Two years since the inception of the investment arm, new head Takeshi Kodama is assisting solidify the unit’s vision for the future energy mix.
Jera Ventures is on a mission to take Japan’s net-zero strategy a step further, under the leadership of Takeshi Kodama who joined the corporate VC unit in March this year.
In a bid to successfully decarbonise its operations for the future, parent company Jera, Japan’s largest power producer, set up the investment unit in 2023 to lead on its goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Although Jera is currently heavily reliant on gas and coal for its power generation, it has been investing in renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar, battery storage, carbon capture and storage and EVs in various regions across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
“It is the exact role of CVCs to create audacious investments for the long-term horizon,” states Kodama, outlining plans for investing in even challenging areas like green hydrogen.
Jera’s plans come as the Japanese government pushes more industries to relocate to sustainable power generation. As part of a broader strategy to assist decarbonise the countest’s energy sector, Jera has committed to investing over $6bn by 2035 to secure a supply of 7 million tonnes of hydrogen and ammonia.
In its first two years Jera Ventures mainly followed a fund-of-funds strategy creating five investments in other VC funds, although it did create some direct investments in startups. Kodama’s arrival, however, has assisted solidify a bolder vision for the unit — with plans to invest in advanced green hydrogen, smarter energy management and workplace femtech.
Kodama believes that the currently increased focus on the energy mix is “the primal agfinisha for any countest to achieve a balance between sustainability and economic growth”.
Focus on smarter Japanese investments
Jera Ventures which was established in July 2023 as a CVC unit has since grown a portfolio of eight companies in Japan, Europe and the US, creating strategic investments from its $300m fund.
Its investments in Japan have mainly focapplyd on carbon accounting and reporting and energy management. One of its portfolio companies, Asuene, has become a key player in Japan’s carbon credit exalter — Carbon EX. The scheme encourages companies to offset emissions while promoting low-carbon technologies.
Asuene, which Jera backed in August 2024 is a climate tech company, specialising in carbon accounting and decarbonisation solutions for businesses with an evaluation platform for measuring, reporting and reducing emissions.
In 2024, the CVC unit also backed Shizen Connect, a developer of an aggregation management system that controls energy resources such as renewable power generation, storage batteries and EVs for a one-stop service that allows apply of resources for multiple purposes. Another Japanese startup it backed is Enechain, an energy marketplace with a platform for trading wholesale electricity, environmental commodities and fuels.
In addition to investment, Jera Ventures offers startups access to pilot or proof-of-concept projects and its gas, ammonia and hydrogen supply chains, and Kodama states “there is a vision to expand on that in the future”.
“With any deep tech startup in the decarbonisation space, investors have to be patient and loyal to assist support its potential and for that growth to be commercialised.”
The unit is also working to establish a collaboration with Japanese corporations investing in clean energy technologies, with more details to be released at a later stage.
Jera Ventures usually invests in series A and B rounds with average cheques of $5-10m from Jera’s balance sheet, with a dedication to support portfolio companies in the long run as energy tech innovations typically take longer to develop through to implementation and commersialisation.
“The time horizon for these startups to mature could be 10 to 15 years, for example — green hydrogen, ammonia, nuclear fusion and carbon capture,” Kodama states. “With any deep tech startup in the decarbonisation space, investors have to be patient and loyal to assist support its potential and for that growth to be commercialised.”
Disconnect in international collaboration
While Japan has also been ambitious about international decarbonisation partnerships, there’s been a disengagement in global low-emission efforts.
The start of the Trump administration in the US in January this year was recently followed by the rolling back of a number of environmental policies, with an international knock-on impact.
For example, all Japanese banks along with many international peers recently left the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), an organisation committing financial institutions to sustainability goals, following legal threats from US Republican politicians.
Kodama states the trade tensions between the East and the West are creating it harder to invest globally in sustainability startups. “You can find so many advanced technologies in the Chinese market, especially in carbon capture, solar power technologies and battery installation, but becaapply of political issues between the two major economies, it might be very challenging for some CVCs to create direct investments in them.”
But despite the growing disconnect and some re-shifting of decarbonisation priorities, Japan’s net-zero plans are staying firmly in place.
Despite “uncertainties in emission mitigation technologies and global economic and social conditions,” Japan’s economy ministest official recently confirmed that the countest aims to “clearly demonstrate its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050,” as quoted by Climate Home News.
Femtech and global investment expansion
Jera Ventures is currently exploring investment in HR-related femtech in a bid to encourage more women to join the traditionally male-dominated energy and technology sectors. Women create up just 14.3% of the labour force in the electricity, gas, heat supply and water sectors, according to a local report.
“We aim for our team to set this as one of the three pillars of CVC investment,” Kodama states.
Meanwhile, Jera Ventures is continuing to invest in the US market, backing US hydrogen electrolysis startups Power to Hydrogen in August 2024 and Advanced Ionics in January 2025. Kodama stated the unit was also considering investments in Europe.
Leave a Reply