banking
Fukuoka Financial Group (FFG) has signed an AI partnership agreement with IBM Japan to accelerate a group-wide, “AI-first” operational and organizational overhaul. The agreement broadens a strategic digital collaboration established between the regional financial group and IBM Japan in November 2022. Under the expanded framework, FFG aims to
venture capital
Tokyo-based startup Flyle has raised ¥1.88 billion ($12.6 million) in Series A funding to scale its AI agent platform designed for enterprise contact center operations and customer experience (CX) management. The round brings the company’s total raised capital since inception to approximately ¥22.7 billion. The
asset management
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management is revolutionizing its business operations by integrating Snowflake and generative AI to automate complex tasks. Executive Officer Matsumoto explained during the Snowflake World Tour Tokyo how the firm uses "skills" defined in natural language to replace traditional programming, allowing employees to build internal
venture capital
MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP), the venture capital arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has backed New York-based financial crime platform One Footprint, Inc. as part of the startup's $25 million Series B round. Capital from the fundraise—which was led by QED with participation from MUIP, Commerce
venture capital
SBI Ven Capital has co-led a US$5.6 million Pre-Series A funding round for Pints AI alongside Tin Men Capital, with participation from SEEDS Capital, NTUitive, SUTD Venture Fund, and Tenity. As financial institutions globally look to transition artificial intelligence from peripheral use cases—like customer service
artificial intelligence
NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL has announced a strategic three-way collaboration with Accenture and Amazon Web Services (AWS) aimed at solving a critical bottleneck in corporate artificial intelligence adoption: the lack of standardized oversight for autonomous AI agents. The partnership centers on expanding DOCOMO GLOBAL’s existing Universal Wallet Infrastructure (UWI)
capital markets
Webull Securities, the Japanese subsidiary of global digital investment platform Webull Corporation (NASDAQ: BULL), has launched two new API integration tools geared toward AI agents and AI coding assistants: “Webull MCP Server” and “Webull Agent Skills.” According to the company, this marks the first time a domestic brokerage in Japan
banking
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC Group) has deployed its "Automatic Proposal Generation Application" into production, a move that marks a vital step in automating the high-stakes world of corporate strategic advisory. The application is the first production-ready output of the strategic partnership established with Tokyo-based
SaaS
Money Forward (TSE: 3994), a leading Japanese provider of back-office SaaS and financial management solutions, has delivered a surprisingly positive first-quarter performance for the fiscal year ending November 2026. The company achieved a positive operating profit of JPY 170 million, defying initial expectations of a loss. The results,
venture capital
SIGQ Inc., a developer of specialized "Agentic AI" for incident management, has raised additional capital through a Pre-Series A extension round. The investment, led by Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, brings the company’s total cumulative funding to 153 million yen, consisting of a 123 million JPY equity portion—
insurtech
Tokyo-based InsurTech pioneer justInCaseTechnologies has launched its "joinsure AI Insurance Sales Enablement Series." The new generative AI-powered suite is designed specifically to tackle the industry's most persistent challenge: high customer drop-off rates during the digital application process. The new solution has already delivered
venture capital
Tokyo-based venture capital firm DG Daiwa Ventures (DGDV) has participated in a Series A investment for Project Pluto, a New York-based startup developing an advanced artificial intelligence agent tailored specifically for institutional investors. Project Pluto is the creator of "Terminal X," an AI Financial Agent designed