Sony Innovation Fund, a corporate venture capital arm of Sony Group Corporation (hereafter "Sony"), today announced that it has developed an Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) evaluation process for its portfolio companies and will launch a program to support each company's ESG efforts.

Sony Innovation Fund believes that tackling ESG issues from an early stage is the key to the long-term and sustainable corporate value enhancement of each portfolio company. Unlike listed companies, there are few benchmarks or ESG scores available for start-up companies to refer to, but the Sony Innovation Fund has developed an ESG scoring methodology to assess the level of ESG maturity of start-ups, and introduced a process for evaluation at the time of investment and post-investment monitoring.

By regularly measuring ESG scores before and after investment and giving feedback to portfolio companies, Sony Innovation Fund will contribute to improving the understanding of ESG by each portfolio company and support their further implementation of ESG initiatives. Sony Innovation Fund will also promote activities toward the realization of a sustainable and better society through supporting technologies that help address social issues and the ventures that own those technologies.

Statement from Toshimoto Mitomo, Executive Vice President, Sony Group Corporation

"Through corporate management with a long-term perspective, the Sony Group is accelerating various initiatives for a sustainable society and environment. We also believe that ESG perspectives are indispensable for the long-term growth of start-up companies in conducting corporate venture capital activities. By introducing this ESG evaluation process for portfolio companies, we hope to support innovations that lead to solving global social issues and contribute to the progress and development of society."

About Sony Innovation Fund

• Founded in July 2016, Sony Innovation Fund has been investing in start-up companies in the seed and early stages. With offices in Japan, North America, Europe and India, the fund has made around 90 investments across a wide range of business areas, from AI and robotics to mobility, IoT, medical care, fintech and entertainment.
• In March 2019, Sony established Innovation Growth Ventures Co., Ltd., a joint venture company with Daiwa Capital Holdings Co., Ltd., and formed a larger-scale joint fund, Innovation Growth Fund I L.P., which invests in mid to later stage ventures.
• In September 2020, Sony created Sony Innovation Fund: Environment, an investment fund for companies engaged in technological development that contributes to global environmental issues such as climate change, resources, chemical substances, and the improvement of biodiversity.

• Sony Innovation Fund