SPARX Group has established its Mirai Creation Fund II. The two seed LPs for Mirai Creation Fund I—Toyota Motor Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation —have decided again to participate as initial investors in Fund II.

In addition to the three areas of concentration—Intelligent Technology (e.g. artificial intelligence), Robotics, and Technologies for Hydrogen-Powered Society—on which Fund I (formed in November 2015) focused, the Mirai Creation Fund II mandate also includes Electrification and New Materials.

With SPARX as the fund manager and with an initial contribution from Toyota, SMBC, and SPARX totaling approximately ¥14.3 billion (US$130 million), Mirai Creation Fund II investment activities are scheduled to begin in August. The Fund will be open to new LPs until the end of March 2019, targeting a total of ¥50 billion (US$450 million) in commitments.