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,
credit card
mergers & acquisitions
Mizuho Bank has concluded a share transfer agreement with the shareholders of Upsider Holdings to acquire a majority of Upsider’s shares. Mizuho Bank will acquire approximately 70% of Upsider’s shares at a price of approximately ¥46 billion from their current holders, which include venture capital firms in and
asset management
payments
Visa Worldwide Japan, SAP Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Card, and Digital Garage have launched an embedded finance solution for B2B payments developed through collaboration between Visa and SAP, marking the first deployment of this solution in Japan during fiscal year 2025 to improve B2B payment efficiency. Visa began collaborating with SAP
payment
Rakuten Group has obtained a patent for a system and method for simplifying person-to-person (P2P) e-money transfers, particularly when the recipient is not yet a registered user of the e-money service. 1. Core Problem to be Solved Traditionally, to send e-money to someone, the sender must first confirm that the
venture capital
venture capital
motor insurance
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
cross-border payments
Ria Money Transfer, a global leader in the cross-border money transfer industry and a business segment of NASDAQ-listed Euronet, has become the majority shareholder through the acquisition of 60% of the shares of Unidos, the operator of Kyodai Remittance, a Japan-based funds transfer business and overseas remittance specialist. Leveraging Kyodai’
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,