OMRON Corporation (Head office: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto; President and CEO: Yoshihito Yamada; hereinafter, "OMRON"), announced today an investment in JB Nordic Fund I (hereinafter referred to as "JB Nordic"), which invests in start-ups in the Nordic and Baltic region and is advised by JB Nordic Ventures, a 50/50 joint venture between JBIC IG Partners, a subsidiary of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) engaged in overseas investment advisory and agency business, and BaltCap, the leading private equity and venture capital investor in the Baltic countries.

In recent years, the governments in the Nordic and Baltic region have taken the lead in cutting-edge technology initiatives, such as mobility-as-a-service (Maas) of Finland, electronic currency e-krona of Sweden, and a KSI Blockchain technology of Estonia deployed to ensure security of its government data. Having given rise to many "unicorns (privately held start-ups valued at over $1 billion)," this region is the most enthusiastic about start-ups in Europe with a large number of start-ups per capita. JB Nordic invests in local start-ups with advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, and big data analysis that seek partnerships with Japanese companies.

In its medium-term management plan VG2.0 launched in fiscal 2017, OMRON has set for itself the following three basic business strategies: "redefine our focus domains^* and maximize the strength of our businesses," "evolve our business model," and "reinforce our core technologies." OMRON will accelerate these strategies through an open innovation strategy aiming at "collaborative creations with partners." Our goal is to stimulate growth by proactively addressing bigger social issues through reinforcement of our businesses and technologies and creation of new business opportunities. The investment in JB Nordic is a part of our initiatives in this regard. By utilizing the business matching opportunities service offered by BaltCap, which possesses networks with start-ups in the Nordic and Baltic region, OMRON will search for influential local start-ups and technological seeds, thereby accelerating the drive in this regard through open innovation.

With a view toward accelerating our vision of a better society by means of our businesses, OMRON will remain proactive in investing in leading foreign venture capitals not only in the Nordic and Baltic region but also in Israel, which has been driving innovations as a national strategy for more than 20 years, as well as in Silicon Valley of the U.S., the global hub of start-up companies.

^* Four domains of Factory Automation, Healthcare, Mobility, and Energy Management