Ricoh is expanding investment in overseas startups to create new business opportunities
Ricoh Company, Ltd. has established its new Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund, the RICOH Innovation Fund Ⅱ. Aiming to create new businesses, Ricoh will strengthen strategic investments in overseas startups through this Fund to help enhance the value of customers’ workplaces.
In November 2023, Ricoh established its first CVC fund, the RICOH Innovation Fund Ⅰ. To accelerate its transformation into a digital services company, Ricoh has promoted business development through partnerships and collaboration with external companies, particularly in areas where markets and technologies are rapidly changing.
Under the new fund, Ricoh will expand investments in overseas startups in line with its current mid-term strategy starting in fiscal 2026.
Sanae Endo, Corporate Officer, Ricoh Company, Ltd., stated:
“Building on the insights and achievements gained through our first fund, we have established the RICOH Innovation Fund II to seize new opportunities from a greater global perspective. By expanding our investments in overseas startups and accelerating collaboration across our local operations, we are committed to advancing the value of the workplace.”
RICOH Innovation Fund Ⅱ has a fund of 3 billion JPY, with a timeframe set at eight years, and a focus on supporting creativity, digital inclusion, the circular economy, and the digital workplace.
Fund Focus
Expanding further the company has revealed that the creativity focus is on areas that support creative work that generates new ideas and value through communication and collaboration while harnessing the creativity of individuals and teams.
The fund will also focus on areas that provide a digital workspace where people can work seamlessly anytime, anywhere in an environment that suits them, and be productive and creative, and digital inclusion – areas that ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, can use all digital technologies safely and freely.
Ricoh Company has stated that the fund will also focus on the zero-carbon, circular economy, in areas that accelerate the achievement of net-zero society by realising and streamlining the tasks and mechanisms necessary for a society to achieve this goal.
RICOH Innovation Fund Ⅰ
The RICOH Innovation Fund Ⅰ invested in nine startups globally, between 1 November 2023 and 31 March 31 2026, supporting their growth while delivering new value to customers.
- ASUENE Inc. – Ricoh contributed to corporate decarbonisation of 300 small and medium-sized enterprises in Tokyo. Ricoh and ASUENE are also conducting joint marketing activities in Europe and Asia.
- log build Co., Ltd.
- HRbase Co., Ltd. (formerly Flucle)
- Butlr Technologies Inc. – Ricoh launched an initiative in Japan to enhance the workplace experience through privacy-conscious use of AI by integrating RICOH Spaces with Butlr’s sensor data.
- Tours, Inc. (formerly DINAMICA)
- O Ltd.
- Molton Inc. (formerly a23s)
- Marsdy inc.
- tohanas Co., Ltd. (formerly Carecon, Inc.)
