startup
The Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat under the Cabinet Office has announced the selection of prospective awardees of partner entities that will play a key role in supporting the implementation of the Global Startup Campus (GSC) Initiative Pilot Activities. Additionally, they have selected host institutions that will accept international researchers
venture capital
FormX has completed a seed round funding of 130 million yen in total. The lead investor is Genesia Ventures, with additional participation from Chiba Dojo Fund and multiple CFO angel investors. This funding will accelerate the development of its "Disclosure Platform" and strengthen its organizational foundation. About FormX
venture capital
MUFG Bank and MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP), both consolidated subsidiaries of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), have made an investment in LayerX, a startup focused on equipping society with AI-centered software. MUFG Bank also signed a strategic partnership memorandum of understanding with LayerX to further deepen their collaborative relationship. MUIP’
venture capital
Visual Bank has raised 1.1 billion yen in equity financing through its Series B round. The round was led by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital, with participation from CDIB Cross Border Innovation Fund, Incubate Fund, Aozora Corporate Investment, SMBC Venture Capital, W fund, and others. The Purpose of the Series
corporate venture capital
Relcu has raised new funding with participation from both new and existing investors, including Menlo Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Clocktower Ventures, MUFG Innovation Partners, Commerce Ventures, and Valley Ventures. Relcu provides an all-in-one Unified CRM and AI Agent Co-Pilot built for financial services. The capital will accelerate Relcu’s mission
debt financing
Shoko Chukin Bank actively supports startup companies that aim to solve social issues through innovative products and services, in collaboration with related organizations. Shoko Chukin Bank's Startup Business Department has provided a loan of 100 million yen to COUNTERWORKS as funding necessary for business expansion. COUNTERWORKS is a
venture capital
TRUSTART, which supports DX transformation of users' real estate-related operations through proprietary real estate big data collection, has raised 1 billion yen through third-party allotment to HIRAC FUND (MoneyForward Venture Partners), Daiwa Corporate Investment, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Japan Venture Capital, Asia Air Survey, Iwagin Future Investment, GMO VenturePartners, mint,
venture capital
GREE Ventures has established the GREE LP Fund JP 2, Limited Partnership (“JP2”), its second fund of funds (FoF) focused on Japanese venture capital. JP2 completed its first close at ¥4.4 billion, with a target final fund size of ¥6 billion. Overview of JP2 GREE Ventures aims to accelerate
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
artificial intelligence
NTT Data Corporation has concluded a sales agent agreement with Lazarus AI, which provides multimodal LLM products available in closed network environments, particularly to the life insurance industry, and property insurance industry, and is also a participant in Plug and Play Japan's Summer 2025 InsurTech Batch. Starting in
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,
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