Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred forty-third edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We have done it! Not only is the Bank of Japan the only major central bank to raise its policy rate this year, it has done so twice. Well done, Ueda-san & team, leading us further down the
venture capital
SBI Holdings has taken the role of lead investor in the Series A funding round for Saladin Consulting and Technology, a technology startup based in Vietnam. This investment was executed through the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund, a Singapore-based fund managed by the SBI Group. The funding round also attracted participation
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred forty-second edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The week commencing December 15 will very much be the last week of significant business activity for the calendar year. The Diet will have its last session, and the Bank of Japan will raise the policy rate to
IPO
FUNDINNO went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Segment on December 5, 2025, at the top of the indicated range from JPY 600 to 620. After reaching a high of JPY 935 during the first day of trading, the stock has since settled in around the JPY 800 mark,
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred forty-first edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Last week, we were delighted to participate in the "ICT & FinTech Mission to Tallinn" this past week, courtesy of EIS | Enterprise Estonia. As we are settling down back home, we are iteratively reporting on the
venture capital
In order to further revitalize the startup ecosystem, it is important for each entity involved in funding startups to share a common understanding of the direction the ecosystem should aim for, further strengthen funding for startups, support their growth, and ensure that the benefits are reaped by each entity involved.
security token
Nomura Holdings, Nomura Asset Management, Nomura Trust and Banking, and BOOSTRY have completed issuance procedures for the “Nomura Private Series B Dash Fund 5 Tokenized VC Fund (Transfer-Restricted)”, a private placement security token totaling approximately 8 billion yen. The Fund is Japan’s first security token to invest in venture
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fortieth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Congratulations to the team at Wise, who became the first money transfer operator to complete integration with the Zengin interbank-settlement network. The timing could not have been better, as we are spending this week in Estonia, courtesy of
venture capital
PitchBook has released its Global VC Ecosystem Rankings (Q4 2019 to Q3 2025), providing a data-driven look at where the world’s venture capital is flowing. While the United States continues to dominate the top charts, the data reveals a compelling story for Japan, highlighting a period of significant momentum
electricity
EnerBank, an energy tech company in the fields of renewable energy and decarbonization, has conducted a third-party allotment of new shares in its Series B round, with SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company as new underwriters. This brings the total amount of
debt financing
Resona Bank and Fivot have jointly established the venture debt fund "RFC Venture Debt Fund 1 Limited Investment Partnership", with the aim of expanding financing for domestic startup companies from seed to middle stage. Purpose and Background Small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 99.7% of Japanese
venture capital
Pruv Finance has completed its USD 3m Pre-Series A round, led by UOB Venture Management, with participation from Saison Capital, Taisu Ventures, Spiral Ventures, and Royal Group. This funding accelerates Pruv Finance's mission to build the first compliant RWA infrastructure that enables seamless, on-chain distribution of tokenized assets.