Japanese banking giant Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and San Francisco-based asset manager Fin Capital will invest $300 million in U.S.-based fintech startups, the bank said Monday.
The initiative, dubbed the SMBC Fin Atlas Beyond Fund, will focus on early-stage start-ups in the banking, payments, wealth management, and artificial intelligence realms. Atlas Beyond will also focus on the CFO technology stack, insurtech, risktech and vertical fintech realms.
“We are committed to investing in innovations tailored to the financial industry, aiming to elevate our banking group‘s business and foster new ventures within the sector,” according to the fund’s website.
“As a bank-backed CVC supporting diverse industries beyond finance, we aspire to drive innovation across various sectors by leveraging cutting-edge technology and data,” the website said. “We also seek to invest in companies offering specialized solutions in high-demand verticals, where banking expertise is essential.”
Atlas Beyond will be run by Eiko Ooka, who is also general manager of SMBC’s digital strategy department. Managing Director and Head of SMBC’s Asia Innovation Centre Mayoran Rajendra, Fin Capital Managing Partner Logan Allin and Fin Capital General Partner Christian Ostberg join Ooka on Atlas Beyond’s investment committee.
“Finally made it! Since moving to New York in 2013, I've been working on VC investments and creating collaboration opportunities between startups and Japanese companies within the U.S. ecosystem, with the vision of establishing a CVC for the SMBC group. We will now further intensify our innovation activities in the U.S.,” Ooka said in a LinkedIn post Monday.
It’s the first time the bank has focused its venture activities on U.S. startups, SMBC Group wrote on LinkedIn.
Atlas Beyond will work closely with SMBC Americas and other SMBC Group subsidiaries to build relationships with startups, entrepreneurs, investors, and universities across the U.S., according to SMBC’s press release.
SMBC launched a similar fund in 2023 to support Asia-based fintech startups, dubbed the Asia Rising fund, alongside Tokyo, Japan-based venture firm Incubate Fund.
Asia Rising has since invested in six firms, including Vayana, a Pune, India-based trade credit infrastructure platform which processes over $1 billion in financing monthly; and Jakarta, Indonesia-based invoicing and payment platform Paper.id.
The bank did not provide a comment beyond the press release.
