Hokkaido Venture Capital, Inc., a community-based venture capital, established "Hokkaido Shinkin Regional Vitalization Investment Limited Partnership (Shinkin Region Vitalization Fund)," on August 10, 2006, jointly with 22 Shinkin Banks that operate as community-based financial institutions within Hokkaido and the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, JAPAN (SMRJ) as part of its investment project of "Hurrah, SMEs Fund."

This fund has the following features:

◆The nation's first example of the fund that most of the Shinkin Banks with different service areas in Hokkaido participate in and execute cross-regional investment and support activities.

◆It practices a wide range of investment and support activities such as the support for starting up business and intra-company projects, business restructuring, and privatization of public sectors.

◆In addition to financing, investors actively participate in supporting in operations and sales of the investee institutions.

◆Collaborating with public support projects ("Cooperation among Industry, Academia, Government, and Financial Sector" by METI Hokkaido, "New Collaboration" and "Expert Dispatch System" by SMRJ, etc.)

◆Improving the marketing support system utilizing "Sales Partners."

With this fund, we will find and support new community resources by integrating "advantages, features and potentials existing in Hokkaido region" and "Technology and/or management." Through these finding and supporting efforts, we aim to nurture distinctive key companies that will support the economy in Hokkaido region. Furthermore, with the aim of helping to reinforce the investee institutions' marketing as well as to expand their markets in and out of Hokkaido, seven local companies that have markets in these areas are participating in investee support efforts as "Sales Partners."