venture capital
The Japan Securities Dealers Association has been holding a "Roundtable Meeting on the Supply of Growth Funds to Startup Companies and Other Entities" to consider issues regarding the trading system for unlisted shares based on the needs of market participants, and the FSA has been participating in this
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred twenty-fourth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The TOPIX reached a record high on August 8, 2025, hitting 3038.84 points during the regular session and closing at 3024.21. This was the first time TOPIX has broken 3000 points in its history. It closed
venture capital
TERASS has completed a Series C round totaling 3.1 billion yen (2 billion yen in third-party allotment capital increase, 1.1 billion yen in existing shareholder stock transfer) with 10 companies as underwriters, including Norinchukin Capital, Mizuho Capital, Boost Capital, and Z Venture Capital. The cumulative fundraising amount since
lending
Debt collections is the backbone of lending, however collections today are run by collection agencies who care very little about the borrower and mostly care about their commissions. With a vision to build India’s best collections company, DPDzero has announced raising $7million in Series-A funding led by GMO VenturePartners
artificial intelligence
JAPAN AI has raised a total of 1.9 billion yen in Series B funding with participation from JAFCO Group, Nissay Capital, FCE, and Resona Capital. The raised funds will be utilized to strengthen talent acquisition, expand AI agent capabilities and enhance quality, and strengthen AI integration with marketing SaaS,
venture capital
Berlin-based FinTech Credibur has secured USD 2.2 million (EUR 1.85 million) in pre-seed funding to launch its credit infrastructure platform. The round is led by European FinTech VC Redstone, followed by Silicon Valley's MS&AD Ventures and Canadian VC Inovia. The round also includes several
venture capital
LegalOn Technologies, a Tokyo and San Francisco-based startup that uses AI to speed up contract reviews, announced a USD 50 million Series E, bringing its total funding to USD 200 million. The round was led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with continued support from existing investor World Innovation
corporate venture capital
Celebrating its one-year anniversary, Chocolate Finance announced two significant milestones: the successful close of a USD 15 million Series A+ funding round as well as attaining regulatory approval to operate in Hong Kong. These achievements collectively underscore Chocolate Finance's innovative product proposition, continuing market growth, robust business model,
corporate venture capital
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has made an investment in Interstellar Technologies (IST), a startup company aiming for vertical integration of rocket and communications satellite businesses, and has simultaneously concluded a business partnership agreement with IST regarding support for supply chain construction in the space-related industry. This marks SMBC'
corporate venture capital
Hokkoku Financial Holdings (Hokkoku FHD) Group's Hokkoku Bank and Soft Space have commenced the development of a SoftPOS solution that enables touch payments from international payment networks including Visa, and for the first time in the world, payments using deposit-type stablecoins. At the same time, QR Investment, a
corporate venture capital
Fukuoka Financial Group has established the "CVC Fund No. 2" with a total fund size of 3 billion yen, jointly with SBI Investment and FFG Venture Business Partners, in order to strengthen investment functions aimed at realizing alliances with promising startup companies. Background and Purpose of Establishment FFG
lending
Techfino, a FinTech non-banking financial company (NBFC), has announced that it has successfully secured INR 65 crore in equity funding. The investment comes from Stellaris Venture Partners and Saison Capital, the investment arm of Japan-listed Credit Saison. This capital infusion will enable the company to significantly enhance its secured lending