venture capital
Mizuho Bank and Mizuho Capital, both consolidated subsidiaries of Mizuho Financial Group, have established the "Mizuho Business Succession and Capital Strategy Fund" (total amount: 10 billion yen) to support "capital policies aimed at smooth business succession and strengthening competitiveness of Japanese companies." Mizuho has positioned "
venture capital
SBI Holdings announced that SBI Ventures Two, a consolidated subsidiary of the Company, will acquire shares of Solaris SE, to make it a consolidated subsidiary. Reason for acquisition of shares SBI Holdings has invested in Solaris SE through the funds it manages and its subsidiary since 2017. Solaris SE has
weekly
Welcome to the ninety-sixth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Here is what we are going to cover this week: * Venture Capital & Private Markets: JAL & Hitachi participate in BeZero Carbon's USD 32m Series C; Z Venture Capital & Decima Fund participate in Vivident's seed
venture capital
Pacific Meta is a Tokyo-based company that provides end-to-end support as a “Web3 Accelerator” for Web3 projects both domestically and internationally. Pacific Meta supports companies and projects challenging the Web3 space by leveraging their specialized expertise in Web3 to offer assistance in fundraising, consulting, business development, and marketing. Additionally, they
artificial intelligence
Vivident, a startup developing AI-powered character IP technology, has secured $1.5 million in seed funding from global investors across South Korea, Japan, the United States, and Hong Kong. The round included participation from leading venture firms including Hashed, Mashup Ventures, TheVentures, Modhaus (Korea), Sfermion (US), as well as Japan&
ESG
Global carbon ratings agency BeZero Carbon has completed a USD 32 million Series C investment round to enable carbon markets through ratings. The round is led by Temasek-founded GenZero, a decarbonisation-focused global investment firm headquartered in Singapore, with additional investment from Japan Airlines and the Translink Innovation Fund. Existing investors
weekly
Welcome to the ninety-fifth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Thank you for all the well wishes. We are back, and so is Ueda-san, who is going to raise the policy rate to 0.5% this week. It simply has to happen, notwithstanding any nonsense coming out of Washington prior
blockchain
Komainu has raised $75 million in strategic investment from Blockstream Capital Partners, subject to relevant regulatory approvals. Komainu was launched in 2018 as a joint venture between Japanese bank Nomura, crypto security experts Ledger, and digital asset investment manager CoinShares. The funding enables Komainu to accelerate its international strategic growth
payments
Filipino travelers to Japan can now enjoy expanded cashless payment options at over 3 million merchants, thanks to a new collaboration between GCash, Alipay+, and PayPay. This partnership allows GCash users to seamlessly pay via QR code at a wide range of businesses, from bustling city centers like Tokyo and
weekly
Welcome to the ninety-fourth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We apologize for the tardiness of this week's newsletter. Let's just say the editorial team has been...decimated. Not by alien invaders (though with this cough, I wouldn't rule it out), but by a
venture capital
Cross Capital has invested in “Airbus Ventures Fund IV,” managed by Airbus Ventures, through its Fund of Funds, Cross Capital I Limited Partnership (CC1). This collaboration establishes a strategic partnerships aimed at fostering innovation and mutual growth. Airbus Ventures, established in 2016 and headquartered in California, is a global venture
asset management
Endowus has increased its total funding to over US$110 million. The digital wealth advisory platform raised an additional US$17.5 million following from their US$35 million raise in August 2023 to take the total for this round to US$52.5M. New investors include Malaysia-based OSK Ventures