Hitachi Ventures provided $ 400 million for the fourth fund, the company said Exclusively Techcrunch.
The size of the new fund is a vote of trust in a series of deep technological verticals. The corporate portfolio for the expansion of VC imitates its limited partner, including energy, production, biotechnical and AI.
“We are open to other penetration opportunities,” said director and CEO Stefan Gabriel. “There is a lot around quantum, nuclear, life science, space technology. Not too wide – we have a clear look at what excites us in these areas.”
Hitachi ventures He will still focus on investments in Series A. “That’s still a sweet place,” said partner Gayathri Radhakrishnan. His first investment in the company will average about $ 5 million and the Fund has about 55% of its tracking capital, said partner and CFO Wolfgang Seibold.
Although its name is on the Japanese conglomerate, Hitachi Ventures, based in Munich, is somewhat extraordinary in the corporate VC world. It is structured more like a typical risk fund, Gabriel said, and Hitachi served as a solo LP. The investment committee consists of a company partner and they do not have to guide the possible investments that have passed the corporate branch, said Peta Bastien, a partner and president of the US operations.
But the Fund is still working closely with Hitachi, he added in part to help the portfolio companies understand what a potential future buyer is looking for. Like other CVCs, Hitachi Ventures does not promise that he can arrange bids for portfolio companies, but can make key entries.
“We can put you in front of Hitachi, but your product has to be sold,” Radhakrishnan said.
Like other CVCs, Hitachi Ventures serves as a scout, Radhakrishnan said, passing through the plots to find fewer companies and technologies that correspond to the companies of his corporate partner.
Hitachi venture of previous investments include a series of verticals. On the energy side he invested in a battery recycling Seductive elementsFusion startup Tea Energyand AlreadyEnergy wastewater company. His AI investments are prone to jobs in the workplace, including Emmawhich focuses on business flows; Strikewhich covers cyber -safety; and Makerwhich uses AI to improve supply chains.