venture capital
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank has announced that its subsidiary, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment, has formed the Circular Economy/Nature Positive No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership jointly with SBI Shinsei Corporate Investment, and commenced investment activities. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank has also announced that it has made an LP investment in
venture capital
Granite Asia, a leading multi-asset investment platform focused on technology, and Integral Corporation (TSE:5842), Japan’s leading publicly listed private equity firm specializing in buyouts, announced the formation of Granite-Integral, a joint venture designed to invest in high-growth companies with a strong Japan nexus, empowering technology scale-ups expanding into
private equity
The Cool Japan Fund (CJF) has decided to invest up to 6 billion JPY in Japan Activation Capital II, a fund that invests in publicly listed Japanese companies that are committed to long-term, sustainable growth and corporate value creation, in collaboration with their management team based on a relationship of
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fifth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Happy new fiscal year! There were a few deals that still had to get done before the end of March, with insurance and regional banking being especially busy. Congratulations and best of luck to anyone who started a
venture capital
INCJ was established in September 2018 via company split from Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). INCJ was established in July 2009 with the aim of overcoming boundaries between companies and industries, creating and nurturing key industries via open innovation for the prosperity of future generations, and providing risk capital
venture capital
Lazarus AI has successfully secured participation from AllegisNL Capital into its convertible note financing. AllegisNL Capital is a venture capital fund supported by Nippon Life Group, investing in innovative companies at the intersection of technology and insurance or adjacent industries. AllegisNL Capital expects Lazarus AI's technology to further
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fourth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Happy second birthday to us! What started as a personal effort to keep our fingers on the pulse of the Finance & FinTech ecosystem is now being shared with more than 15,000 subscribers (12,500 on LinkedIn
venture capital
Vertex Ventures Japan (VVJ) has completed the first closing of its inaugural fund, Vertex Ventures Japan Fund I (“VVJFI”), targeting JPY 10bn. This milestone was achieved with the participation of LP investors representing key sectors across industry, government, and academia, with the support of government institutions. VVJ will commence investments
venture capital
Funding Societies | Modalku, the largest SME digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, has announced a strategic equity investment from Gobi Partners, an Asia-focused venture capital firm. This investment underscores strong investor confidence in Funding Societies' business model, resilience, and commitment to bridging the region's SME credit gap,
trading
Bloomo Securities, which provides a US stock investment app, has raised a total of 2 billion yen in a Series A round through a third-party allocation of shares to Global Brain, ANRI, Spiral Capital, Portage Ventures, MUFG Innovation Partners, Angle Bridge, Sumitomo Corporation Venture & Innovation, and Scrum Ventures. This
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred third edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The Bank of Japan meets for its Monetary Policy Meeting this week. The consensus is for no change in the policy rate. The Nikkei reports real wages down 1.8% in January, the first time in negative territory
venture capital
Neobank Zolve, focused on cross-border financial solutions, has raised USD 251 million in equity and debt financing. The Series B round was led by Creaegis and saw participation from HSBC, SBI Investment, GMO Venture Partners, DG Daiwa Ventures, and existing investors Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sparta Group, and DST Global.