OREANDA-NEWS. August 15, 2012. KDDI Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takashi Tanaka; hereinafter referred to as KDDI) and Global Brain Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Yasuhiko Yurimoto) are expanding investment targets of the "KDDI Open Innovation Fund" , along with forming partnerships with promising startup companies to start providing applications to "au Smart Pass".

The "KDDI Open Innovation Fund" , which is sponsored by KDDI and managed by Global Brain Corporation, was established in February 2012 as KDDI's first corporate venture fund for supporting promising startup companies.

Recently, an investment in TOLOT Inc. (Headquarters: Koto-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Atomu Suematsu; hereinafter referred to as TOLOT) through this fund was decided. [1]

As the first step of partnerships with investment target companies, applications will be provided to "au Smart Pass" from August 1, 2012, in cooperation with JMTY Corporation (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takahiro Kato; hereinafter referred to as JMTY) and TOLOT. In addition, SHIMAUMA Print System, Inc. (Headquarters: Hioki-city, Kagoshima; CEO: Kazuhiko Nagayou; hereinafter referred to as SHIMAUMA Print), the country's number one company in digital camera printing, will also start providing applications to "au Smart Pass".

KDDI will continue to support development of companies that provide additional value to customers and proactively form partnerships with promising companies through investments from the "KDDI Open Innovation Fund" to provide an environment where all smartphone users, from beginner to expert, can immediately enjoy the latest applications.

Refer to the attachment for details of applications that will be provided to "au Smart Pass" from August 1, 2012.