SINGAPORE – A Singaporean venture capital firm is planning to launch an academy in north-eastern Japan in partnership with a local Japanese government to develop start-up talent in and around Asia, according to sources familiar with the project.
Insignia Ventures Partners and the Iwate prefectural government are crafting a plan to create a start-up hub in Iwate Prefecture by drawing international talent into the broader Tohoku region – a development the two sides hope will lead to increased investment in Japan by fast-growing South-east Asian economies.
Yinglan Tan, founding managing partner of Insignia Ventures Partners, and Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso are scheduled to sign an agreement for the project on the sidelines of the Iwate International Convention, set to take place from Oct 29 to Oct 30 in Morioka, the prefectural capital.
However, the two sides have yet to decide on a date to open the hub.
Founded in 2017, Insignia Ventures Partners has invested in more than 90 companies in Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan, among other markets, and manages S$1 billion in assets.
The firm and the Iwate government started talks on the project after Tan and Tasso met during the Summer Davos forum in Dalian, north-eastern China, in 2024.
Tan said the academy aims to train young people from South-east Asia and Japan to serve as a bridge between the two regions by combining knowledge of Japanese business culture with an understanding of the diversity of South-east Asian markets.
According to prefectural officials, Iwate hopes the project will spur regional revitalisation and ease the impact of its ageing population.
The facility will serve as the Iwate campus of the Insignia Ventures Academy, which is based in Singapore. According to the plan, the Iwate campus would offer in-person programmes.
Insignia Ventures Partners reports that the Singapore academy has produced more than 250 graduates through its 12-week core programme on venture investment fundamentals.
Graduates have joined portfolio companies or launched businesses, and the Iwate campus would be its first base outside Singapore.
According to Iwate officials, the planned site of the academy is in Hanamaki, which is south of Morioka. The Iwate government plans to sell the 41,900 sq m Towa High School property, which closed in 2010, to the Singaporean firm.
The Iwate government is considering earmarking renovation subsidies for the project, the officials said.
Serving as a transportation hub in the Tohoku region, Hanamaki features Iwate Hanamaki Airport, Shin-Hanamaki Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line and the Tohoku Expressway.
Tomokazu Sugawara, the executive director of the Management Support Division of the Iwate prefectural government, addressed the host prefecture’s need to develop accommodation and transportation for prospective students and faculty.
“We recognise the need for such infrastructure so that instructors and students can travel from Singapore and other parts of the world to stay at the school,” Sugawara said. KYODO NEWS
