SPARX : Mirai Creation Fund II Invests in Bitkey,A digital connect platform provider

The following is an English version of the official Japanese announcement, which has been given to the

Tokyo Stock Exchange and the media in Tokyo, Japan.

May 12, 2021

For Immediate Release

SPARX Group Co., Ltd.

President and Group CEO Shuhei Abe

(TSE1: 8739)

Mirai Creation Fund II Invests in Bitkey,

A digital connect platform provider that is closing the gap between the digital and

the real using unique ID management/authentication and rights technology

TOKYO-May 12, 2021-SPARX Group Co., Ltd. (SPARX; TSE1: 8739) today announced that its Mirai Creation Fund II-established in July 2018-has execused an investment (the amount is not disclosed) in Bitkey, Inc., a start-up providing a digital connect platform that uses unique ID management/authentication and rights technology. An investment round is currently underway.

Portfolio Company Outline

Founded in 2018, Bitkey created a solution to the inconvenience and lack of integration of current services in key management and office access management by using the "bitkey platform." This platform expands the scope of these services and encompasses the three domains of "home," "work," and "experience." The bitkey platform works with Bitkey's Smart Lock-rated Japan's No. 1 best selling lock in December 2019 according to a national market survey by Japan Marketing Research Organization, Inc. The bitkey platform has an increasing range of applications, which continues to drive market growth.

Mirai Creation Fund I and Mirai Creation Fund II Summaries

The Mirai Creation Fund I began operations in November 2015 with financing of JPY 13.5 billion from three companies: Toyota Motor Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and SPARX, the Fund's general partner. Ultimately, the Fund received contributions from 20 companies, including the above three. Casting intelligent technologies, robotics, and hydrogen-economy technologies as vital to the future, Fund I has invested in approximately 50 companies and projects-from the US, the UK, Israel, Singapore, and Japan-that possess innovations in these fields. In H2 2018, SPARX began managing the Mirai Creation Fund II, which targets the three existing Mirai Creation fields along with the two additional areas of electrification and new materials. As of March 31, 2021, the combined AUM for Fund I and Fund II were JPY 88.3 billion.

Mirai Creation Fund investment track record: https://mirai.sparx.co.jp/en/investment/

• For inquiries related to this release, contact: Public Relations, SPARX Group Co., Ltd. Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] [e-mail]