Ricoh establishes a fund to generate innovation

Accelerating transition into a digital services company by supporting start-up growth

TOKYO, November 8, 2023 – Ricoh Company, Ltd. (President and CEO: Akira Oyama, “Ricoh”) today announced the establishment of the RICOH Innovation Fund as a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund. Aiming to generate innovation in the Business-to-Business area, this Fund executes strategic investments in start-ups that drive leading-edge digital services.

Over the years, Ricoh has advanced open innovation through management of industry-specific CVC funds and an accelerator program TRIBUS. Through this newly established Fund, Ricoh will work to accelerate business development through business partnerships, collaborations with external companies, and in-house R&D in the business and technology fields where markets and technologies are rapidly changing. This in turn leads to accelerating Ricoh's transition into a digital services company.

The Fund will mainly invest in start-ups with new technologies and services that support creative work at the frontlines and offices and realize the digital workplace. Ricoh will leverage its global customer base and customer-facing capabilities to support the growth of start-ups. Ricoh supports people's creativity and contributes to a sustainable society by generating innovation and continuously transforming people's work through collaboration and co-creation with start-ups.

Major investment areas

1. Supporting creativity
   Areas that support creative work that generates new ideas and value through communication and collaboration while harnessing the creativity of individuals and teams.
2. Digital workplace
   Areas that provide a digital workspace where people can work seamlessly anytime, anywhere in an environment that suits them, and be productive and creative.
3. Digital inclusion
   Areas that ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, can use all digital technologies safely and freely.
4. Zero-carbon, circular economy
   Areas that accelerate the achievement of net-zero society by realizing and streamlining the tasks and mechanisms necessary for a society to achieve this goal.

RICOH Innovation Fund overview

The Fund executes investment in promising start-ups with SBI Investment Co., Ltd. (Chairman and President: Yoshitaka Kitao) as the General Partner, an unlimited liability partner who is responsible for the management of the Fund.

Official fund name
RICOH Innovation Fund #1 Investment Limited Partnership

Business name
RICOH Innovation Fund

Establishment date
November 1, 2023

Fund scale
5 billion JPY

Operation period
10 years