Monoful Venture Partners, a Japan-based venture capital arm of GLP, has secured 12.9 billion yen ($96 million) in capital commitments to mark the first close of its maiden fund – Monoful Venture Partners I, according to a company release.
Launched this year, Monoful aims to invest in growth-stage startups in the logistics and real estate ecosystem in Japan.
The new investment vehicle will have five startups in its investment portfolio by the end of December, according to a release on Wednesday. The firms may include Telexistence, souco, Rapyuta Robotics, and CLAS Business, as shown on its website.
GLP is injecting fresh capital into the fund alongside Japanese companies including SMBC Nikko Securities, Keio Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Toppan Printing, and Sun Asterisk among others, according to this release.
GLP has been backing startups in Japan since 2018 with a focus on investing in companies that can support the logistics and real estate ecosystem including robotics and artificial intelligence, fintech, and e-commerce.
Monoful will leverage GLP’s network, partnering and collaborating with portfolio companies to expand its logistics ecosystem.
“We are very pleased with the successful first close of Monoful Venture Partners I. The logistics industry is continuing to evolve and modernize to support a changing workforce and new logistics transportation regulations. Together with our partners, we aim to build a new-age logistics ecosystem through digitization to increase labour efficiency and improve operating workflow,” said Yoshiyuki Chosa, president and CEO of GLP Japan.
Earlier this month, GLP’s private equity unit Hidden Hill Capital announced that it had closed its Asia-focused logistics and supply chain fund at $465 million with investments from TPG’s Hong Kong-based investor NewQuest Capital Partners among others.