SBI makes Berlin its European Headquarter

As reported by the German financial daily “Handelsblatt”, SBI Holdings will start its first European start-up fund from Berlin, partnering with venture capital specialist Redstone.

The new fund is to raise EUR 200m to invest into startups from the “Industry 4.0” sector. “Japan and Germany both have a strong industrial foundation. We want to use that to our advantage, ”said Naoyoshi Yoneyama, head of SBI Germany.

Yoneyama has been setting up the European SBI office in Berlin since last year. “Our business plan included from the start a strong partner who brings along a network and local know-how,” said the former diplomat.

So far, Redstone has primarily acted as a service provider for venture capital funds from groups such as Daimler, Deutsche Bahn and Berliner Volksbank. In the SBI collaboration, Redstone is also to help identify promising founders.

According to the partners, European companies have an innovation lead over Asia on topics such as intelligent factories, the Internet of Things and industrial robots. Redstone founder Samuli Sirén expects the trend towards smart and flexible production to continue to grow.

Therefore, the new “Future Industry Ventures Fund” will develop such business models from its European base. European industrial companies are also to participate in the fund, which plans to invest up to EUR 10m per start-up.

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