Hinoki Secures ¥3.1 Billion in Funding to Drive Continuous Business Succession for SMEs

Overview of the Funding

株式会社Hinoki (Hinoki Inc.) has announced that it has raised approximately ¥3.1 billion in total through a third-party allotment of shares. The funding round was backed by several institutional and individual investors, including Dual Bridge Capital, MIT Investment Management Company (the endowment investment manager for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Kampo NEXT Partners. Including available borrowing capacity, the company's total investment capacity is expected to reach the ¥5 billion to ¥10 billion scale in the near term.

Continuous Business Succession Model

Hinoki is an operating company whose mission is to solve the problem of missing successors driven by the aging of business owners. The company operates on the premise of permanently holding the businesses it acquires, rather than flipping or reselling them. While respecting the management independence of each acquired firm, Hinoki builds a cyclical growth model that supports their perpetual expansion through group-wide management expertise, the "Hinoki Playbook," and the "Hinoki Management Academy," an initiative designed to develop the next generation of executives.

Purpose of Funding and Future Outlook

With this funding, Hinoki will gain the financial firepower needed to engage high-quality succession targets with sufficient capital from the outset, enabling the simultaneous execution of multiple acquisitions at speed. Hinoki aims to acquire 20 companies over the next 10 years, focusing on businesses with strong operational foundations—such as technical trading firms specializing in industrial and medical equipment, as well as statutory inspection and maintenance service providers. Looking ahead, the company ultimately targets an IPO, with the vision of becoming a permanent corporate entity originating from Japan.