Japan FinTech Observer | Tontines | ex-Goldman & Barclays Tech MD
life insurance
LIFENET Insurance Company has released its results for fiscal year 2024 (ending in March 2025), providing a comprehensive overview of its financial performance, strategic initiatives, and future outlook. LIFENET's key achievements in FY2024 include significant growth in annualized premium of policies-in-force, strong insurance service results, and steady growth
neobank
Sony Group is embarking on a significant strategic shift by partially spinning off its Financial Services business. The motivation behind this move is multifaceted, encompassing a desire for greater focus on core entertainment and technology areas, enhanced operational agility for both Sony and the financial services entity, and an improved
impact
AgeWellJapan, which operates the "Motto Mate" grandchild companion service and the multi-generational community space "MOTTOBA!", and was part of Plug and Play Japan's InsurTech Batch No. 10, has secured new funding. This round marks the first investment from the "Region, People, and Future
venture capital
Acompany, part of Plug and Play Japan's FinTech Batch No. 6, has completed its Series B round, raising approximately 1.1 billion yen through a third-party allocation of new shares. SBI Investment served as the lead investor, with participation from Globis Capital Partners, Central Japan Innovation Capital, Hiroaki
neobank
Rakuten Bank announced its FY3/25 financial results, exceeding expectations in both ordinary and net profits. Full-year ordinary profits reached ¥71.5 billion, representing a 47.8% year-over-year increase and surpassing the company's guidance of ¥69.0 billion. Net profits also demonstrated strong growth, totaling ¥50.8 billion,
cryptocurrency exchange
Coincheck Group has reported its first full fiscal year results, after listing on Nasdaq through a SPAC transaction at the end of last year. Before we get into the results announcement, however, let us take a look at where Coincheck fits into the overall Monex Group. Overview Monex Group has
neobank
Sumitomo Mitsui Card and SoftBank have signed a basic agreement regarding a comprehensive business alliance in the digital field. Based on this alliance, PayPay Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Card will begin new collaborative initiatives. 1. Purpose of This Alliance In recent years, with the evolution of technology and advancement of
corporate venture capital
CryptoGames, a developer of blockchain games, has launched “CG Ventures” as a new corporate venture capital business. To date, CG Ventures has invested in 17 companies, mainly in the Web3 field, where CryptoGames expects business synergy, but going forward they will also consider investing in the trading card field. Investment
consumer finance
Credit Saison's Indian subsidiary has begun raising funds through External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) loans. The subsidiary has signed a contract to execute a 150 million US dollar ECB loan from Mizuho Bank, which is a capital participant in Credit Saison India. Read also: "Mizuho Bank to invest
corporate venture capital
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (MUTB) has entered into a Preferred Shares Investment Agreement with Euglena in which MUTB invests up to USD 30 million in preferred shares issued by Euglena Sustainable Investment Limited (ESIL), Euglena's overseas special purpose company (SPC). Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) shows great promise
artificial intelligence
ExaWizards has entered into a strategic partnership with Fukuoka Financial Group (FFG), intended to leverage AI agents to drive FFG’s business transformation, enhance productivity, and create new banking models. Background of the Partnership ExaWizards has been using their generative AI expertise and advanced technological capabilities to assist in streamlining
credit card
Adyen and JCB announced the rollout of JCB's card-on-file (COF) tokenization service, aimed at enhancing the security of credit card transactions for e-commerce merchants. Adyen is the first to offer and implement JCB’s new technology both domestically and globally. The introduction of COF tokenization will further enhance