Kubota Corporation (Head Office: Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan; President and Representative Director: Masatoshi Kimata; hereinafter “Kubota”) announced today that it has participated in the THRIVE Accelerator Program (hereinafter the “THRIVE Program”), a startup accelerator program operated by the US company SVG Ventures.
Through our participation in the THRIVE Program, we at Kubota intend to accelerate open innovation with AgTech startups, farmers and other external partners, and contribute to labor saving and efficiency improvement in farming in the United States and other countries.

1. Background and aims

• In June of this year, Kubota launched its Innovation Center as a division for the pursuit of open innovation based on coordination with external partners. We are currently pursuing negotiations for collaboration with startups, beginning with Advanced Farm Technologies, Inc., in which we invested in August of this year.
• To further bolster these activities, it is vital for us to engage in partnerships with startups in the AgTech field. We therefore decided to participate in the THRIVE Program, which has wide and deep linkages with players in this field.
• Through our participation in the THRIVE Program, we intend to further strengthen our coordination with numerous players, including startups, agricultural producers, research institutes, and universities, and make a contribution to the agenda of saving labor and heightening efficiency in farming in the United States and other countries.

2. Outline of SVG Ventures

Name	SVG Ventures
Establishment	2010
Location	California, United States
Business	Operation of SVG Ventures, a venture capital and THRIVE, an accelerator program focused on the AgTech field

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