Digital Garage and INQ Partner to Address Funding Gaps for Startups via Credit Card Payment Solution

Digital Garage has established a partnership with INQ, a financial support firm specializing in startup financing, to launch "DGFT Invoice Card Payment for INQ." The business-to-business (B2B) payment service is designed to mitigate cash flow gaps often experienced by early-stage and high-growth ventures during fundraising rounds.

The collaborative service optimizes Digital Garage’s existing "DGFT Invoice Card Payment" platform for startups supported by INQ. The platform enables companies to settle bank-transfer-only invoices using major credit cards (including JCB, Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, SAISON, and NICOS), effectively extending payment deadlines by up to 60 days. This mechanism aims to defer upfront cash outflows—such as advertising, inventory, and outsourcing expenses—while businesses await the disbursement of loans or large-scale capital injections.

Tokyo-based INQ has facilitated debt financing for over 1,300 ventures, exceeding a cumulative total of ¥13 billion as of November 2025. The firm reported a high volume of requests from entrepreneurs seeking to defer operating expenses during active fundraising intervals.

This partnership aligns with Digital Garage's broader "Digital Garage Bank/DG Bank (tentative name)" initiative—a strategic SME-focused financial venture conducted alongside the Resona Group. Digital Garage positions its B2B invoice-to-card payment operations as a foundational element of its upcoming "Financial Orchestration Infrastructure," which seeks to integrate payment processing, cash management, and credit functions for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Digital Garage Begins Providing Invoice Card Payment Function to Regional Bank DX Platform

Digital Garage has begun providing the Business Invoice Payment Service (BIPS) based on the B2B payment service “DGFT Invoice Card Payment” to “DX Connect Gate,” a platform for streamlining accounting operations such as invoice receipt and payment, jointly developed by TIS and Hiroshima Bank for regional banks. As the first

Japan FinTech ObserverNorbert Gehrke