Japan's SBI Holdings Inc. became a co-investor in Russia's PJSC Sovcombank alongside the Russia-China Investment Fund.

The investment follows an agreement signed in May by SBI Holdings and the Russian Direct Investment Fund on exploring joint investment opportunities in the financial technology and biotechnology sectors in Russia.

Attracting the new investor will help Sovcombank to get more funding to develop its business in Russia and is the next step towards realizing its plan to launch its IPO in the future, the lender said. It did not provide details on the size of the investment.

The Russia-China Investment Fund is a joint fund established by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and China Investment Corp. Sovcombank said in June that the fund planned to take a minority stake in the lender together with a consortium of funds from the Middle East.