TOKYO -- U.S. private equity giant KKR plans to ramp up investment in Japan's cloud-based software startups, the latest sign that investors believe businesses will continue to adopt digital services to tackle labor shortages.
KKR, whose tech portfolio includes China's ByteDance, Indonesia's Gojek and India's Jio Platforms, recently completed raising a $15 billion Asia fund. In addition to its strategy of buying out noncore businesses from conglomerates, it plans to make about two investments in Japan's "growth stage" startups per year, Tokyo-based partner Eiji Yatagawa said in an interview.
