
SINGAPORE -- Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and trading house Marubeni are investing a total of $70 million in a new fund linked to state-owned Singaporean investment group Temasek Holdings, aiming to nurture Asian technology startups.
ABeam Consulting and the government-backed Development Bank of Japan are also chipping in to the fund launched by Temasek venture capital arm Vertex Venture Holdings. Japanese investors are putting up $180 million in all -- roughly a quarter of the $730 million in total funding.