venture capital
Plug and Play Japan has established the investment limited partnership "Plug and Play Japan Fund I" to support the global expansion of startups in Japan. For the first close, they have received investments totaling over 3 billion yen from MUFG Bank, Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and
alternatives
Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, a leading trust bank, and Chicago-based GCM Grosvenor, a leading global alternative asset management solutions provider, have announced a strategic partnership to offer clients best-in-class alternative investment products to capitalize on the attractive Japanese market demand for alternative investment solutions that add value to investment
crypto
Korean blockchain infrastructure company DSRV has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Japan's Next Finance Tech (NFT). Through this agreement, both companies plan to jointly pursue blockchain infrastructure business across Asia, starting with the Japanese market. DSRV will provide infrastructure services in Japan including node operation,
banking
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Sumitomo Mitsui Card will launch "Trunk," a digital comprehensive financial service for corporate customers, in May 2025. Background and Purpose In recent years, with the advancement of digital technology, technological evolution, and entry of players from different industries, financial
payments
PayPay Corporation announces that four new services used in six countries can now process payments at PayPay merchant locations that use "Alipay+". The newly added services are "K PLUS" (Thailand), "Kaspi.kz" (Kazakhstan), "Bluecode" (Germany, Austria), and "BigPay" (Thailand, Malaysia,
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred seventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. While we thought the prior week was extreme, the past week gifted us two of the best 20 return days of the TOPIX, and one of the worst 20.....since 1968! By this point, you will also have
credit card
Nudge has obtained a license as a "Certified Comprehensive Credit Purchase Intermediary" based on the Installment Sales Act. When entering the credit card business as a startup, Nudge initially operated as a "Small-Amount Comprehensive Credit Purchase Intermediary", offering credit cards with limits of 100,000 yen
venture capital
Frontier Innovations announces that SME Support Japan and JA Mitsui Leasing have joined as new Limited Partners (LPs) in the Frontier Innovations Fund 1 operated by the Company as a General Partner. SME Support Japan has agreed to invest up to 2.5 billion yen. This fund is the first
venture capital
GOLDEN EGG Ventures has completed the formation of GOLDEN EGG Investment Limited Partnership No. 1 with total capital of over 4 billion yen. Eleven financial institutions, eleven non-financial companies, and eight individual investors have participated, and the fund has already begun investing in a number of startups both in Japan
trading
Woodstock, which operates the Gen Z-focused social investment app woodstock.club, has launched a new basket trading feature that allows users to purchase portfolios based on the Woodstock app users' average performance, which outperforms market averages such as the S&P500 and Nasdaq. With this feature, users can
crm
Salesforce Japan announces that Mitsubishi UFJ Bank has implemented Salesforce's Financial Services Cloud (FSC) as its new CRM system with approximately 26,000 users, including sales representatives across all branches. This new CRM system aims to centralize customer data and enhance both sales capabilities and customer experience. Purpose
banking
Mizuho Financial Group announced that Amsterdam-based Mizuho Bank Europe, a subsidiary of Mizuho Bank, has merged with Frankfurt-based Mizuho Securities Europe, a subsidiary of Mizuho Securities. As the surviving entity, Mizuho Bank Europe has successfully commenced operations under its new universal bank structure, offering a fully integrated banking and securities