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Tokyo—December 10, 2015—Hakuhodo Inc. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; Hirokazu Toda, President & CEO), Japan’s second largest advertising company, on December 10, 2015 established Hakuhodo Technology Business Center, a new unit that will use technology to support companies in their efforts to develop digital business.

Massive changes have been sweeping through industry as technology advances, and in recent years the pace of these changes has only accelerated. With financial technology (fintech) and connected vehicles in the spotlight, efforts in such fields as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, robotics and big data have become more important.

With these trends in mind, Hakuhodo has established Hakuhodo Technology Business Center to strengthen collaboration with technology-related venture companies and provide even stronger support to our clients in their efforts to develop digital business.

Hakuhodo Technology Business Center will support companies to undertake open innovation and digital business development in the following key business areas:
(1) Offer clients technology-based business strategy planning and implementation support
(2) Provide open innovation solutions
(3) Develop technology-based solutions for startup companies; it will also
(4) Offer marketing support to venture companies

To carry out the above, Hakuhodo Technology Business Center has invested in funds organized by Scrum Ventures, the Silicon Valley-based Japanese fund with the greatest number of investments (2014 figures) and Itochu Technology Ventures, which is known as a top-tier Japanese venture capital firm. Through its involvement in these funds, Hakuhodo Technology Business Center will obtain technology knowledge, which it will use to accelerate the development and provision of solutions to challenges faced by Hakuhodo’s clients.

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About Hakuhodo Technology Business Center
A unit comprised of business producers, UI/UX designers, programmers, data scientists, system engineers, strategic planners and other specialists. It offers sei-katsu-sha*1 insight-based solutions in the technology domain, as well as solutions at the crossroads of technology and creativity and technology and marketing.
Established: December 10, 2015 General Manager: Shinobu Uchida Staff: 36 (when established)

*1 Sei-katsu-sha are more than simply consumers, just as people’s lives and lifestyles include more than just
shopping. Hakuhodo introduced this term in the 1980s to emphasize its commitment to a comprehensive,
360-degree perspective on consumers’ lives.

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