Tokyo Stock Exchange Operator Subsidiary Backs Smartround to Bridge Japan’s Public and Private Market
JPX Market Innovation & Research (JPXI), the non-exchange strategic arm of Tokyo Stock Exchange operator Japan Exchange Group (JPX), has taken an equity stake in private-market platform Smartround as part of a pre-Series C financing.
The deal is structured through newly issued warrants combined with a secondary acquisition of existing shares from an investor, paving the way for a targeted Series C round in 2027. Alongside the capital injection, the entities executed a non-exclusive memorandum of understanding (MOU) to evaluate linking Smartround’s private-company data and secondary trading channels directly into JPX Group’s public-market architecture.
The partnership comes against the backdrop of significant regulatory and structural shifts in Japan’s venture ecosystem. A May 2025 revision to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act established a specialized Type I financial instruments registration designed for brokering unlisted securities to professional investors under streamlined regulatory requirements. Capitalizing on the change, Smartround's wholly owned subsidiary, Smartround Securities, completed registration in August 2026 and launched operations on October 2, 2026, becoming Japan’s first dedicated private-share brokerage.
As stricter criteria on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Growth Market encourage domestic startups to stay private longer and pursue larger funding rounds, the demand for pre-IPO liquidity among founders, early investors, and staff has expanded. Smartround’s equity-management software currently hosts cap table and corporate-governance records for more than 7,800 Japanese startups and 4,800 investors.
Under the MOU, the two companies will concentrate on three collaborative tracks:
- Expanding secondary market liquidity for private securities by integrating Smartround Securities’ brokerage capabilities with JPX’s institutional network.
- Connecting private-market cap table, equity, and financing data with public exchange infrastructure to streamline IPO filings and ongoing listing disclosures.
- Delivering joint educational resources, ecosystem services, and client referrals for pre-IPO firms and venture backers.
Smartround underscored that an operational firewall remains between its software platform and its securities arm: cap table and ownership data remain proprietary to users and are not transferred to the broker-dealer without explicit client consent. Smartround Chief Executive Masaru Sunagawa noted that the initiative seeks to merge Japan's historically fragmented venture and public equity ecosystems into a single continuous pipeline, while JPXI Senior Executive Officer Takeshi Hirano stated that fostering sustainable growth requires strengthening pre-IPO market mechanisms alongside traditional public exchanges.
Norbert Gehrke
