artificial intelligence
Vivident, a startup developing AI-powered character IP technology, has secured $1.5 million in seed funding from global investors across South Korea, Japan, the United States, and Hong Kong. The round included participation from leading venture firms including Hashed, Mashup Ventures, TheVentures, Modhaus (Korea), Sfermion (US), as well as Japan&
ESG
Global carbon ratings agency BeZero Carbon has completed a USD 32 million Series C investment round to enable carbon markets through ratings. The round is led by Temasek-founded GenZero, a decarbonisation-focused global investment firm headquartered in Singapore, with additional investment from Japan Airlines and the Translink Innovation Fund. Existing investors
weekly
Welcome to the ninety-fourth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We apologize for the tardiness of this week's newsletter. Let's just say the editorial team has been...decimated. Not by alien invaders (though with this cough, I wouldn't rule it out), but by a
asset management
Endowus has increased its total funding to over US$110 million. The digital wealth advisory platform raised an additional US$17.5 million following from their US$35 million raise in August 2023 to take the total for this round to US$52.5M. New investors include Malaysia-based OSK Ventures
corporate venture capital
Open innovation specialist Creww has formed Creww Capital, a new subsidiary focused on Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) support and fund management. Launching in January 2025, Creww Capital will be co-led by Creww CEO Amane Ijichi and ABAKAM CEO Naoto Matsumoto. Since 2012, Creww has orchestrated over 500 open innovation programs,
corporate venture capital
Z Venture Capital (ZVC) has launched a new fund, ZVC Fund II Investment Limited Partnership (ZVC Fund II), with a total size of 30 billion yen. The fund has officially commenced operations on January 1, 2025. ZVC is a subsidiary of LY Corporation. As one of Japan's largest
corporate venture capital
Tokyu Fudosan Holdings announced the joint establishment of a JPY 50 billion corporate venture capital (CVC) fund, “TSVF2 Investment Limited Partnership” (hereinafter “CVC2”), with SBI Investment as the General Partner. This fund aims to strengthen the value chain through partner collaboration, address social issues, and enhance corporate value by leveraging
venture capital
IB has raised approximately 100 million yen in funding from TSE-listed Trade Works and Seibu Shinkin Capital, for a total amount raised of approximately 430 million yen. "Hokenbo," the insurance management app provided by IB, is a free app that allows users to manage and share insurance and
japan
MS&AD Insurance Group announced that MS&AD Ventures, the corporate venture fund of MS&AD Group based in Silicon Valley, has increased the fund amount by USD 100m, which brings the total amount under management to USD 400m. Through effective investment activities by the CVC, the