Innovation Kyoto 2016 Investment Limited Partnership ("KYOTO-icap No.1 Fund"), with Kyoto University Innovation Capital Corporation ("Kyoto iCAP") (Head office: Sakyo-ku, Kyoto; Representative Director: Koji Murota) as unlimited liability partner, has made an investment in Saka-no-tochu, a venture company utilizing Kyoto University's research results. ("Saka-no-tochu") (Head office: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto; Representative Director: Kunihiko Ono), a venture company that utilizes research results from Kyoto University.

Outline of this investment
Sakano Tochu is a venture company whose main business is the sale of organic vegetables and other agricultural products and processed foods grown without relying on pesticides or chemical fertilizers. While online sales are the main sales channel, the company is also involved in real store sales and wholesale to retailers and restaurants. In addition, the company is trying to develop its business of supporting coffee cultivation in Asian countries such as Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines, as well as importing and selling coffee beans, into a business that will follow its organic vegetable business.

Sakano Tochu will conduct a feasibility study in collaboration with Professor Motoki Akitsu of Kyoto University's Graduate School of Agricultural Science on the maintenance and development of rural environments through the introduction of organic farming in urban and suburban areas. It will also be responsible for marketing agricultural products produced at the Kyoto University Farm to general consumers.

Japanese agriculture faces the challenge of an aging and decreasing number of farmers. Sakano Tochu actively purchases agricultural products from young farmers and also provides services to support newcomers to farming from other industries. In the coffee bean import and sales business, Sakanotochu is also working with local farmers to switch from slash-and-burn agriculture to coffee bean cultivation, which is expected to have the effect of reducing the loss of tropical rainforests.

Kyoto iCAP has traditionally emphasized investment in projects that are consistent with the spirit of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) and SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). We decided to invest in Sakano Tochu not only because of the growth potential of its online food shopping business, but also because of its social significance from the perspective of ESG and SDGs. In a co-investment with the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Industry Development Organization, Impact and Innovation, LLC, Mizuho Capital Co.

Outline of Saka-no-tochu Co.

Establishment	July 2009
Business	Retail selling and whole selling of organic foods
Head Office Location	Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto
President & CEO	Kunihiko Ono