INSIGHTS

As we prepare to wind down for year-end, I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible year we’ve had. This year has been a year of growth, collaboration, and achievements across our ecosystem. Here are some highlights:

Customer-focused Activities

We continue to invest in building strong relationships with Japan’s top enterprises so we can enable faster GTM and revenue growth for our portfolio companies. Our customer engagement and cross-selling initiatives in 2024, led by Tomoko and team, were nothing short of exceptional. They ran numerous impactful events:

• CIO Roundtables identified key issues at large Japanese enterprises that our portfolio companies could address. Our session on security with KnowBe4 was especially well received
• Executive briefing workshops with CIOs at companies like NEC and Japan Post showcased our portfolio companies BlackLine, Coupa, Kong, Mirakl, KnowBe4 and PagerDuty, generating cross-selling opportunities
• An industry-focused event introduced banking and financial services firms to DevOps leaders Kong, New Relic and PagerDuty

Portfolio Companies

This year, we successfully transitioned New Relic and WalkMe to full parent ownership. It has been an honor to partner with them to build their Japan GTM operations. They grew to 88 and 50 employees, respectively, over 6 years.

We also welcomed KnowBe4, a leading cybersecurity training platform used by 70,000 organizations worldwide, to our portfolio. We’re very grateful that they decided to partner with us to take their operations in Japan to the next stage.

We continue to support our 10 portfolio companies through various stages of development.

Talent Development

This year, we deepened our commitment to talent development, ensuring that individuals across our ecosystem have the resources to learn, grow, and excel. Under Shuji’s leadership, we made significant strides in this area.

Talent development activities included Sales Manager Training to support Account Executives’ transitioning into leadership roles; Inside Sales SPIN Training to enhance sales strategies; Challenger Sales Training to equip teams with advanced sales methodologies; and Marketing Workshops to share essential demand generation tactics, among others.

These efforts have been welcomed by our portfolio companies’ employees. Several recent hires shared with me that they were drawn to Japan Cloud companies because of the unique opportunities for learning and growth within our ecosystem.

Looking Ahead to 2025

Looking ahead to next year, we plan to double our investment in further building our customer relationships which yield immediate benefits to our portfolio companies. We also look to double down on talent development.

Beyond these planned events, countless impromptu exchanges in our shared space at Tokyo Midtown have continued to fuel collaboration and innovation among our ecosystem companies. Our wine and cheese nights and Japanese whisky nights in the office have also become cherished traditions, offering moments to unwind and further strengthen our sense of community.

As we celebrate the close of another year, I am filled with gratitude to our portfolio companies for their commitment to sharing and growth. Together, we have built something truly special, and I am excited for what 2025 has in store.

Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year!

Warm regards,
Aruna