Japan FinTech Observer | Tontines | ex-Goldman & Barclays Tech MD
asset management
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, ChariChari, Music Securities, and Impact Circle have formed the "ChariChari Regional Infrastructure Investment Fund," Japan's first social issue-based investment fund for individuals backed by a movable property trust, and will begin sales from July 2025. 1. Features * Japan's first
payments
Visa Worldwide Japan, SAP Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Card, and Digital Garage have launched an embedded finance solution for B2B payments developed through collaboration between Visa and SAP, marking the first deployment of this solution in Japan during fiscal year 2025 to improve B2B payment efficiency. Visa began collaborating with SAP
payment
Rakuten Group has obtained a patent for a system and method for simplifying person-to-person (P2P) e-money transfers, particularly when the recipient is not yet a registered user of the e-money service. 1. Core Problem to be Solved Traditionally, to send e-money to someone, the sender must first confirm that the
venture capital
NaLaLys, which operates the SaaS platform "NaLaLys" for advancing and streamlining corporate compliance, has completed a fundraising of 250 million yen in a Pre-Series A round. In this round, Delight Ventures served as the lead investor, with DNX Ventures and WPower Fund (MPower) participating in a third-party allocation
venture capital
Berlin-based FinTech Credibur has secured USD 2.2 million (EUR 1.85 million) in pre-seed funding to launch its credit infrastructure platform. The round is led by European FinTech VC Redstone, followed by Silicon Valley's MS&AD Ventures and Canadian VC Inovia. The round also includes several
motor insurance
American Honda Motor has launched a licensed insurance agency, Honda Insurance Solutions, for Acura and Honda customers. The new venture will offer auto, boat, condo, home, motorcycle, pet, recreational vehicle and renters insurance coverage. It has partnered with VIU by HUB, an omnichannel insurance brokerage, to offer quoting services and
venture capital
LegalOn Technologies, a Tokyo and San Francisco-based startup that uses AI to speed up contract reviews, announced a USD 50 million Series E, bringing its total funding to USD 200 million. The round was led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with continued support from existing investor World Innovation
cross-border payments
Ria Money Transfer, a global leader in the cross-border money transfer industry and a business segment of NASDAQ-listed Euronet, has become the majority shareholder through the acquisition of 60% of the shares of Unidos, the operator of Kyodai Remittance, a Japan-based funds transfer business and overseas remittance specialist. Leveraging Kyodai’
corporate venture capital
Celebrating its one-year anniversary, Chocolate Finance announced two significant milestones: the successful close of a USD 15 million Series A+ funding round as well as attaining regulatory approval to operate in Hong Kong. These achievements collectively underscore Chocolate Finance's innovative product proposition, continuing market growth, robust business model,
Insurance
On July 22, 2025, S&P Global Ratings hosted a live webinar titled "Japan Insurance Sector Trend," providing an in-depth analysis of the current state and future outlook for Japan's life and non-life insurance industries. The presentation, led by Director Toshiko Sekine and Associate Director
BaaS
GMO Aozora Net Bank is providing banking functions such as deposits, loans, and credit analysis in a BaaS format to contribute to the operation of a "data-driven banking system that aims to provide "security and safety," "flexibility," "low cost," and "high-quality UI/
blockchain
AltX Research announced that KDDI Corporation has joined as a Vision Partner for its keystone project, “Japan Smart Chain” (JSC), a Japan-sovereign layer 1 blockchain. JSC is the foundational, Japan-sovereign blockchain platform, featuring full compatibility with Ethereum and validated entirely by domestic industry leaders. It is engineered as a “compliance-first”