SBI Ventures Europe “With our investments we bring new technologies and innovative ideas across markets.”

SBI Holdings, born from SoftBank’s investment division, has evolved from an online financial services pioneer in Japan to a global financial conglomerate with over 700 companies and 19,000 employees worldwide. The company has transformed the traditional financial services landscape in Japan by digitizing banking and brokerage services, before expanding its operations internationally with a focus on venture capital and investment. Today, SBI is Japan’s most active venture capital investor, managing assets worth billions of dollars across multiple business segments. J-BIG spoke with Takeshi Kuribayashi, outgoing Managing Director of SBI Ventures Europe GmbH, Shotaro Iwano, incoming Managing Director of SBI Ventures Europe GmbH, and Andrea Böhmert, Managing Partner at SBI Ventures Europe GmbH, about the company’s expansion, their venture capital strategy in Europe, and how they build bridges between European startups and the Japanese market from their German subsidiary in Berlin.

J-BIG: Please tell us about the beginnings of SBI.

Takeshi Kuribayashi: Our founder and CEO, Yoshitaka Kitao, originally worked at SoftBank, where he was Chief Investment Officer. Our company started as a division of SoftBank. In 1999, during the IT bubble – a period of market growth that coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Internet – Mr. Kitao considered the opportunity to start online financial services. Our company was first spun off from SoftBank in 1999 under the name “SOFTBANK INVESTMENT CORPORATION” to conduct venture capital and incubation business. This is also the origin of our name SBI, although the abbreviation now stands for “Strategic Business Innovator”. The company then went listed in 2002, changed its name to SBI Holdings, Inc. in 2005, transferred its asset management business to SOFTBANK INVESTMENT CORPORATION, and moved to a holding company system. In 2006, we became fully independent of SoftBank.

J-BIG: Is SoftBank more of a competitor these days?

Andrea Boehmert: SoftBank is still one of the limited partners in some investment funds, but only a minor one. Therefore, there is no longer a strong link between our companies, but we are rather allies than competitors

J-BIG: How did you come to work for SBI Ventures Europe?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: I joined SBI in 2014 as an accountant for the SBI Group. After a few years, I moved to the risk management team of SBI Holdings and in 2017, I was transferred to the Russian unit where I was assigned as CFO of SBI Bank LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary. I managed the PMI execution, financial planning, and played a key role in various committees for six and a half years. When the geopolitical situation changed, I oversaw the reduction of banking assets and liabilities in Russia. After this achievement, I was transferred to Berlin in 2023, where I’m currently the Managing Director of SBI Ventures Europe GmbH.

Shotaro Iwano: My career began at JBIC, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, where I was involved in financing large-scale international infra projects. This gave me a strong foundation in cross-border finance and strategy. My perspective broadened significantly when I pursued my MBA at INSEAD in France and Singapore. That experience not only cemented my interest in Europe but also allowed me to build a strong international network.

After my MBA, I was keen to move closer to the heart of innovation. I joined SBI Investment in 2024 because its philosophy as a ‘New Industry Creator’ perfectly matched my growing interest in venture capital, particularly in Fintech and Blockchain. My role at SBI Investment involved sourcing and evaluating global opportunities. When the chance to lead the Berlin office came up, it felt like the perfect next step to combine my background in international finance with my passion for helping innovative startups scale globally.

Andrea Boehmert: I joined SBI Berlin in autumn 2023 after living in South Africa for 29 years. I studied business economics in Germany before working for Siemens as Manager Corporate Strategy for Southern Africa. After leaving the corporate world, I started my own consulting company working with IT entrepreneurs. When some of them needed venture capital, and venture capital didn’t really exist in South Africa at that time, I approached Hasso Plattner, the co-founder of SAP and one of the richest men in the world back then with both, a passion for South Africa and for supporting startups, who gave me €25 million to start South Africa’s largest VC fund at that time. Later, I founded my VC fund Knife Capital with two partners and ran it for 12 years. When SBI offered me a position in 2023, I decided it was time to return to Germany. Working for a Corporate, and especially a Japanese company, is a totally new situation for me after being a key decision maker for so long, but I’m learning a lot and find it very interesting.

J-BIG: When you were approached by SBI, did you already know the company?

Andrea Boehmert: I first encountered SBI when one of my portfolio companies in South Africa was seeking investment from them, so I was already familiar with the company. When I received the job offer, my research showed that SBI was approaching business differently than traditional companies. I was impressed that Mr. Kitao was among the first to embrace digitalization in financial services. What appealed to me was SBI’s willingness to challenge conventions. I’ve always believed the ideal investment approach combines the entrepreneurial spirit of startups with the power and network of corporates – and SBI exemplifies this philosophy. I joined because it’s an unusual company with an innovative mindset.

Takeshi Kuribayashi: In general, big corporations, and Japanese corporations in particular, tend to be conservative, especially when it comes to making major business decisions. When I joined SBI in 2014, the company was just beginning to expand its operations in Japan and across Asia. At that time, SBI had started acquiring online security brokerages in Japan and other Asian countries. From the outset, the company has embraced the challenge of trying new things. Since then, SBI Holdings has grown into one of Japan’s largest financial conglomerates.

J-BIG: Did SBI start with global ambitions since its beginnings or focus initially on the Japanese market?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: When SBI was still part of SoftBank, the focus was on setting up an online security brokerage and online banking service in Japan. Initially, SBI focused on the Japanese market, although we also sought investment opportunities in foreign startup companies. From 2005 onwards, SBI became more internationally focused, first establishing a support office in Beijing. Two years later, a subsidiary was established in Singapore to function as a base for foreign business activities within the SBI group. These were our first global steps.

J-BIG: Can you explain the online brokerage business to someone who isn’t familiar with it?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: The online security brokerage business represented a major opportunity for SBI in the early 2000s. Traditional security brokerage was very different before digitalization. It operated on a legacy model where brokers would personally visit investors at their homes or offices to discuss investment opportunities. This face-to-face approach and the high commissions and transaction fees limited participation by individual investors in securities trading.

Our CEO, Mr. Kitao, recognized the potential to transform this market by moving it online. This digital transformation provided two major advantages. First, it made financial services more affordable by reducing operational costs. This cost reduction led to increased transaction volumes on the Japanese stock exchange as more individuals could participate in the market. Second, it gave banks better access to customer data, enabling them to understand client needs more thoroughly and develop tailored services.

Andrea Boehmert: SBI pioneered this digital revolution in Japan’s financial services sector – it was truly a game-changing innovation. After establishing this model in Japan, SBI expanded it to other Asian countries, applying the same principles while adapting to local markets. Once successful across Asia, we began our global expansion, bringing our digitalized financial services to markets worldwide.

J-BIG: How is SBI structured in terms of business segments today?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: SBI began as a purely financial company but has evolved into a diversified conglomerate with five distinct business segments. The three core segments that have been with us since the beginning are: Financial Services – our original business –, Asset Management which includes ETF control and global asset management, and Investment, in other words our venture capital activities.

In recent years, we’ve strategically expanded with two additional segments to diversify our income sources beyond financial services. The fourth segment is our Crypto Asset business. The fifth is what we call Next Generation business, which includes quantum computing, media and biotechnology. This diversification began in earnest around 2016, when our CEO Mr. Kitao developed an interest in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, leading to the establishment of SBI Biotech, our pharmaceutical production and R&D subsidiary.

Through these five business segments SBI has achieved dramatic growth. Our corporate philosophy is “going beyond finance with finance as its core,” and we’re executing this by providing advanced technology products and services while continuously creating new business opportunities.

J-BIG: Are the more recent businesses also implemented on a global scale?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: The degree to which our different business segments are internationalised also depends on how mature the business is. Therefore, newer businesses are not yet as international. However, this is also because our head office is best connected to our global operations and is aware of the latest developments in not only financial services, but also the other business segments.

Shotaro Iwano: Exactly. While our newer business segments are initially focused on Japan, our global offices act as strategic outposts. Europe, in particular, is a source of world-class deep tech and cleantech innovation. And it has a very mature financial ecosystem. Our role in Berlin is not just to observe, but to actively build relationships and identify future technologies that could become the next core business for SBI. We are the sourcing engine that will drive the future internationalization of these next-generation platforms.

J-BIG: Let’s take a closer look at SBI’s internationalisation. You mentioned that it began in Asia, with China and Singapore. What were the next steps?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: Having developed extensive expertise and resources in growing financial services businesses in Japan, our goal was to export this knowledge step-by-step strategically to international markets. Our approach focused on identifying attractive business sectors and investing in companies with entrepreneurial mindsets capable of disrupting existing markets. Rather than starting from scratch in each country, we partnered with local stakeholders who understood their markets while bringing our Japanese financial expertise to the table. Today, SBI operates in 23 countries worldwide.

J-BIG: When did you move outside of Asia for the first time?

Andrea Boehmert: SBI Securities in Japan offered a trading service to Japanese clients for dealing in foreign stocks. In 2010, we established investment funds targeting companies in the US and Asia with Jefferies Group Inc., based in the US. This marked the beginning of our business outside Asia.

J-BIG: When did SBI come to Germany and why was Berlin chosen as its base?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: SBI wanted to establish a global presence and was looking for a suitable base in Europe. The company opened its first Western European representative office in Berlin in March 2019 and became a legal entity in 2020. Initially, we operated under the name ‘Strategic Business Innovator GmbH’, as Swiss Exchange (SIX Swiss Infrastructure and Exchange) held the trademark for the name ‘SBI’. Therefore, we were unable to use the name SBI at that time.

We then collaborated with Swiss Exchange as they considered starting a crypto asset business, and we helped them do so using SBI technology. Due to the circumstances, we were able to negotiate and reach an agreement to use the SBI name.

Andrea Boehmert: We came to Berlin because it has one of the biggest ecosystems for startups and venture capital businesses in Europe. We already had investment experience in Berlin, as SBI had invested in some Fintech companies.

Additionally, I think it was Germany rather than France or Italy because there is a certain familiarity between the two countries. Germany and Japan have quite a few similarities in terms of quality standards, long-term relationships, and so on. This is why I think SBI felt most comfortable with Germany when searching for a European base.

J-BIG: What is the strategic role of SBI Ventures Europe within the larger SBI ecosystem?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: SBI Ventures Europe is the European venture capital arm of SBI Holdings. ​We invest in superior technologies provided by passionate teams in Europe and ​help our portfolio companies to get access to global markets. SBI has only one entity to do the venture capital business in Europe, which is us here in Berlin. There is another group company located in London, which is in charge of the security brokerage and overall banking business for the Japanese mother company. So we have completely different responsibilities.

Shotaro Iwano: Our investment in “Solaris” is a perfect, thesis-driven example of this. We don’t just invest in standalone products; we invest in the foundational layer of the future financial ecosystem. As Europe’s leading Banking-as-a-Service platform, Solaris provides the critical infrastructure that enables countless other Fintech innovations. For SBI, this is a highly strategic investment. It gives us a stake in a core piece of the European market’s architecture and generates immense synergistic potential for our global portfolio of nearly 100 Fintech and Blockchain companies. Matching this with our exposure in the European Fintech/Blockchain ecosystem is the kind of strategic position we want to be in.

Andrea Boehmert: Europe accounts for 24 percent of SBI’s investment business, with around 20 direct assets here. While SBI Japan is the direct investor in many European assets, we build the critical personal relationships, facilitate face-to-face conversations, and develop the local network as an investment management company. We serve as the first point of contact for all Europe-related inquiries from SBI’s Japanese business partners and continuously scout the market, track emerging trends, and identify promising startups. When SBI headquarters is interested in a European asset, they turn to us for insights and connections.

We’ve also established our own venture capital initiative. Through a partnership with Redstone, a European VC firm, we created Future Industry Ventures, which focuses on Industry 4.0 and industrial tech companies. We’ve made eleven investments so far, all managed by our Berlin office.

We create significant value by building bridges between Europe and Japan. For our European portfolio companies, we open doors to the Japanese market, helping them establish a presence and acquire clients there. This is particularly valuable because entering the Japanese market is exceptionally challenging for European startups.

J-BIG: How do you help facilitate business between European companies and the Japanese market?

Andrea Boehmert: Establishing business connections between Europe and Japan requires building trust, which can’t be accomplished with just a phone call. It’s definitely not a quick process. But when our portfolio companies approach the Japanese market with SBI’s name behind the introductions, the process becomes significantly smoother, and their chances of success increase dramatically.

We also provide research and insights for SBI’s corporate venture capital services. SBI manages CVC (Corporate Venture Capital) funds for 21 major Japanese corporations, including companies like Nikon and Panasonic. When these corporations express interest in European markets or specific European companies, we conduct the necessary research and establish connections.

Ultimately, our investment approach follows Mr. Kitao’s philosophy of focusing on truly innovative companies and technologies. It’s not just about financial returns – we provide value by connecting Europe, especially Germany, with Japan, helping to bring new technologies and innovative ideas across markets.

J-BIG: Please describe a profile of a startup company that potentially would be interesting for you.

Andrea Boehmert: First of all, our main investment sectors are Fintech and Blockchain as well as Media.

When it comes to investment, there is one key word that our founder, Mr Kitao, places great importance on: ‘synergy’. This word has two aspects when we look for potential startups. Firstly, we look for companies from which SBI can learn something new. We are looking for novel innovations, something totally different. The second aspect of synergy is considering the effect that adding this company to the larger portfolio will have. For example, we have a large Fintech portfolio. There is a reason for this: When the different companies start communicating and sharing ideas, new ideas emerge and the group as a whole can develop something interesting. So, we are checking whether a new customer insight could have a positive effect on the other portfolio companies.

Takeshi Kuribayashi: We are also investigating the potential for the company to enter the Japanese market. It doesn’t have to be immediate. It’s a journey, and the company needs to reach a certain level of maturity first.

J-BIG: What steps do you take when it comes to investing in European startups?

Andrea Boehmert: So, when a company approaches us, one of the first things we do as part of the due diligence process is to check for possible synergies ourselves. For example, we consider who we have invested in so far and where the company could potentially fit. Would any of our 21 CVCs be interested in a co-investment or as a customer? The key is to figure out how the company would fit in and what we could contribute by investing. This gives us a competitive advantage. We are not the biggest VC fund in Europe, but SBI can offer a lot of value that others cannot.

J-BIG: Can you expand on what makes you different from other venture capital in Germany or Europe?

Andrea Boehmert: A distinctive characteristic of European venture capital, particularly in Germany, is the regional focus of portfolio companies. Most concentrate on the DACH region, which certainly offers a substantial market size. However, when companies are ready for global expansion, many European VCs lack the necessary connections and expertise. Take the US market, for instance. It’s extremely competitive, and success in Europe doesn’t automatically translate to success there. Additionally, US investors typically require European founders to relocate their entire company to America as a condition for investment.

This is where we differentiate ourselves. Very few German VCs can provide genuine access to global markets. We not only understand the Japanese market but can actively open doors for our portfolio companies there. And our reach extends beyond Japan – SBI has extensive connections throughout Asia, the United States of America, the Middle East, and here primarily in the GCC states, and Africa. This global access capability is truly one of our most significant competitive advantages in the European VC landscape. In addition, we are very deeply entrenched in operating a wide range of financial institutions and also have invested in close to 100 Fintech and Blockchain startups globally. So we know what works, have a very wide network and are able to connect the dots for those who partner with us.

J-BIG: Could you give us an overview of SBI’s current scale and market position?

Takeshi Kuribayashi: SBI Holdings has established itself as a significant player in the financial sector, operating as a publicly listed financial conglomerate that encompasses over 700 companies with a global workforce of approximately 19,000 employees. The group’s financial performance has been particularly impressive, with substantial growth metrics and record-setting results across multiple business segments. The investment division alone manages 6.5 billion USD in assets, with European investments comprising 24 percent of this portfolio. Within the venture capital segment, SBI Investment has become Japan’s most active investor, managing a portfolio of over 1200 companies.

Andrea Boehmert: Our Berlin office, while compact with just seven team members, has over 30 years of combined investment experience and a strategically diverse international composition, with representatives from Japan, Germany and China. Each year we also take in a number of interns who normally join us from US universities. This diversity creates a significant competitive advantage. The multicultural perspectives enable us to navigate various business environments and adapt to different negotiation styles across markets.

While SBI has an exceptional presence in Japan, our brand is still developing in Europe.

J-BIG: What are you doing to become more well known in Europe?

Andrea Boehmert: Initially, we faced the challenge of being unable to use the SBI name due to trademark restrictions. Now that we’ve secured the brand and logo association, our marketing communications have become significantly more effective and we have increased our visibility by strategically participating in conferences and networking events. Many Japanese corporations are exploring European acquisitions or investments, but lack local investment expertise. Some of them already have a presence here, but don’t have an investment arm. Japanese companies tend to view assets, particularly overseas assets, slightly differently to European companies, and decisions are carefully considered. We leverage our cultural understanding of both markets to bridge this gap by conducting due diligence and market research.

Additionally, we are currently implementing a new project to significantly enhance our brand recognition in Europe. We are preparing to launch a new European VC fund focused on Fintech and Blockchain. This aligns perfectly with SBI’s deep exposure to and experience in Fintech and Blockchain The new fund will further strengthen our brand presence and help establishing a more substantial footprint in the European venture capital landscape.

J-BIG: Mr. Shotaro Iwano, as the new Managing Director of SBI Ventures Europe, please tell us more about your future plans: What will the focus of the company be in Europe and what kind of impact do you want to achieve?

Shotaro Iwano: I’m grateful to be taking over the helm from Kuribayashi-san, who has built an incredible foundation here. Moving forward, my strategy is clear and focused.

First, we will double down on our core expertise. The new Fintech and Blockchain fund Andrea mentioned is central to this. We have a distinct advantage here because we aren’t just financiers; we are operators with a global portfolio and deep industry knowledge. We know what it takes to scale these specific businesses. Second, we will systematize our ‘bridge-building’ capability. It’s not enough to just make introductions. I want to build a repeatable, high-value pathway for our European companies to enter and succeed in the Japanese and wider Asian markets.

My ultimate goal is for SBI Ventures Europe to be known as a well-recognized and uniquely value adding investor on any European Fintech/Blockchain company’s cap table – the one that truly delivers global access.