We have curated this list of Japanese FinTech companies with a relative broad definition of “FinTech” in mind, also with the objective to introduce you to a number of companies that you might not have come across so far (so we have intentionally not included famous ones like bitflyer or Moneytree in this list). If you happen to know a company that starts with “Y”, please do let us know!
2. - 2fintechnology.jp
Welcome!
Dear Reader,
A very warm welcome to our first edition of “Japanese FinTechs from A
to Z”. This is an extension of our popular Medium post; we have added
a bit more context, a CEO profile, investor information and a source
classification so you can trace back how we identified the companies.
As a first edition, we do not expect this document to be perfect, but
hope that you find the information herein still valuable. If you identify
any mistakes, or have other suggestions, please do not hesitate to let
us know at norbert@fintechnology.jp.
Please also follow us on LinkedIn, read the Tokyo – FinTech Medium
publication, join the Tokyo FinTech Meetup in person, or join the
conversation in our Telegram channel.
Best,
Norbert
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
3. - 3fintechnology.jp
Index
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
Company Category Page
I Alpaca Japan Artificial Intelligence 6
II BrainCat Crowdfunding 7
III Credit Engine Lending 8
IV d.a.t. Artificial Intelligence 9
V 8 Securities Robo Advisor 10
VI Fundinno Crowedfunding 11
VII Good Moneyger Robo Advisor 12
VIII hokan InsurTech 13
IX Infcurion Group Payments 14
X justInCase InsurTech 15
XI Keychain Blockchain 16
XII Leeways Real Estate 17
XIII Momo Internet-of-Things 18
XIV Nayuta Blockhain, Internet-of-Things 19
XV Origami Payments 20
XVI Playbasis Gamification 21
XVII Queen Bee Capital Payments 22
4. - 4fintechnology.jp
Index
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
Company Category Page
XVIII Robot Fund Robo Advisor 23
XIX Sasuke Financial Lab InsurTech 24
XX Transax Trade Finance 25
XXI Unitedly Financial Inclusion 26
XXII Valu Cryptocurrency 27
XXIII Warrantee InsurTech 28
XIV xenodata lab Artficial Intelligence 29
XV Zaisan.net Artificial Intelligence 30
5. - 5fintechnology.jp
Alpaca Japan
https://www.alpaca.ai/
Description
Category: Artificial Intelligence
Alpaca is providing machine learning algo-
rithms for trading platforms and also
empowers professionals with the latest AI
technology.
Alpaca is the successor to Ikkyo Technology,
which had developed image filtering and
matching service Categorific, a startup born
out of Movida Japan’s 5th batch incubation
program in 2014. They subsequently
incorporated Alpaca in the US to better serve
the global market.
Alpaca Securities is SEC-registered and a
FINRA member, providing a modern API with
a zero-commission algo trading environment.
Alpaca's technologies are also licensed to
globally known financial institutions. Alpaca
also offers AlpacaAlgo (algo.alpaca.ai) and
AlpacaScan (scan.alpaca.ai) to the global
algo trading community.
CEO Profile
Tsuyoshi Yokokawa
Yokokawa-san started his
career at Lehman Brothers
structuring alternative risk
products such as subprime
ABS, student loan ABS and
WBS. After Lehman’s bank-
Investors
Founded: February 18, 2015
Archetype Bip Systems Ventures, Bip Systems,
D4V, Genuine Startups, IDEO, Monex Ventures,
MOVIDA Japan, MUFJ Capital, MUFJ Financial
Group, NEC Capital Solutions, SMBC Venture
Capital, Shinji Kimura
ruptcy in 2008, he moved to Nomura to build
alternative risk solutions. Before starting Alpaca in
2015, Yokokawa-san founded a software develop-
ment company providing data processing engines
to major corporates.
FA
FLA
MUFG
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
Classification:
FA – Japan FinTech Association member
FL – Finolab resident
FLA – Finolab alumni
F18 – FIBC startup competitor in 2018
F17 – FIBC startup competitor in 2017
F16 – FIBC startup competitor in 2016
MUFG – Alumni of MUFG accelerator program
6. - 6fintechnology.jp
Alpaca Japan
https://www.alpaca.ai/
Description
Category: Artificial Intelligence
Alpaca is providing machine learning algo-
rithms for trading platforms and also
empowers professionals with the latest AI
technology.
Alpaca is the successor to Ikkyo Technology,
which had developed image filtering and
matching service Categorific, a startup born
out of Movida Japan’s 5th batch incubation
program in 2014. They subsequently
incorporated Alpaca in the US to better serve
the global market.
Alpaca Securities is SEC-registered and a
FINRA member, providing a modern API with
a zero-commission algo trading environment.
Alpaca's technologies are also licensed to
globally known financial institutions. Alpaca
also offers AlpacaAlgo (algo.alpaca.ai) and
AlpacaScan (scan.alpaca.ai) to the global
algo trading community.
CEO Profile
Tsuyoshi Yokokawa
Yokokawa-san started his
career at Lehman Brothers
structuring alternative risk
products such as subprime
ABS, student loan ABS and
WBS. After Lehman’s bank-
Investors
Founded: February 18, 2015
Archetype Bip Systems Ventures, Bip Systems,
D4V, Genuine Startups, IDEO, Monex Ventures,
MOVIDA Japan, MUFJ Capital, MUFJ Financial
Group, NEC Capital Solutions, SMBC Venture
Capital, Shinji Kimura
ruptcy in 2008, he moved to Nomura to build
alternative risk solutions. Before starting Alpaca in
2015, Yokokawa-san founded a software develop-
ment company providing data processing engines
to major corporates.
FA
FLA
MUFG
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
7. - 7fintechnology.jp
BrainCat
https://www.braincat.live/
Description
Category: Crowdfunding
BrainCat are the creators of Gojo, a
community service where people with
common objectives and problems can gather
and help each other. Everyone, regardless of
individuals, companies, government, or
government, can start a mutual aid
organization, anyone can communicate with
their colleagues and collect funds. By doing
so, Gojo will be able to support social causes
that were not previously covered by countries,
companies, etc.
At the Nikkei FinTech Startup Awards 2018,
held on July 4, 2018, BrainCat was awarded
the bronze price.
CEO Profile
Takakazu Nakamura
Nakamura-san holds a
bachelor degree in social
science & computer science
from Waseda University. He
started his career as a full
stack engineer.
Investors
Founded: June 29, 2016
Ceres Inc., GMO Venture Partners, Kazuma Ieiri,
Mercari, Yuki Sagehashi
Nakamura-san developed a distributed web API
framework at SquareEnix,Ltd., and was engaged
in developing large scale distributed deep learning
systems at subsidiary of Denso, Inc.
FA
FL
F18
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
8. - 8fintechnology.jp
Credit Engine
https://www.creditengine.jp/
Description
Category: Lending
Credit Engine are the creators of LENDY, an
online lending platform for small- and
medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Japan.
Business owners can keep a credit line at
LENDY by simply signing in and connecting
their business accounts. LENDY has its own
proprietary algorithm which can measure the
credit risk of SMBs.
Credit Engine received their money lending
license from the Financial Services Agency
(FSA) in early 2017, which triggered their
second funding round.
The service mainly covers restaurants, barber
shops, hair salons, online shop operators, and
the planned average loan amount per
customer is about JPY 1.5m, with a JPY 10m
maximum. The average loan period is 3
months (maximum 1 year).
CEO Profile
Seiichiro Uchiyama
After a stint at Shinsei Bank,
Uchiyama worked with an
NPO offering financing
support for small and mid-
sized businesses in Sendai
after the Tohoku earthquake
Investors
Founded: July 11, 2016
500 Startups, 500 Startups Japan, Draper Nexus
Ventures, Freebit Investment, Voyage Group
and then went on to get his MBA from UCLA. Until
2016 he was a manager in the Business
Promotion Department at Japanese FinTech
startup Money Forward.
FA
F17
MUFG
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
9. - 9fintechnology.jp
d.a.t.
http://dat.co.jp/
Description
Category: Artificial Intelligence
d.a.t, is an information service company
promoting utilization and optimization of data
assets through AI technology including
machine learning and deep learning with “go
ahead of data” as the concept.
By utilizing AI technology as a strength, d.a.t.
aims to contribute to the realization of a high
value-added services to society by making
predictive models such as credit / fraud
detection, etc. and supporting business
innovation through support / compatibility of
information processing accompanied by
human recognition.
The three co-founders have agreed not to
nominate a CEO, and instead present
themselves as co-founder and CAO/CBO/
COO, respectively.
CEO Profile (CBO)
Takayuki Niihara
Niihara-san started his
career at JCB in 2002, and
worked on fraud detection,
credit transaction analysis,
and later in credit card
product development.
Investors
Founded: May 2015
After leaving JCB, Niihara-san established Initius,
a consulting business, where he led more than 20
projects in the payments and finance fields,
formulating business strategies at major operating
companies, among other initiatives.
FA
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
10. - 10fintechnology.jp
8 Securities
Description
Category: Robo Advisor
8 Securities’ mission is to use technology to
make investing simpler, smarter and more
affordable. 8 Limited has licensed offices in
Hong Kong and Tokyo, serving customers in
English, Chinese and Japanese.
8 Securities are the creators of Chloe, one of
Japan’s first Robo Advisors. Chloe supports
the whole investment process from target
setting to execution.
The portfolio is made up of ETFs (listed
investment trusts) listed on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange, and is diversified internationally in
various assets, regions and sectors. Chloe
will constantly monitor and optimize the
performance of the portfolio so that
investment objectives can be achieved.
CEO Profile
Mikaal Abdulla
Mikaal holds an MBA from
both Columbia University
and the London Business
School. Prior to starting 8
Securities, Mikaal was a
Senior Vice President and
Investors
Founded: 2012
China Growth Capital, Leitmotiv, Mathias Helieu,
Nomura Asset Management, Route 66 Ventures,
Velocity Capital Private Equity
the Head of Asia at E*TRADE. His career has
taken him through Silicon Valley, New York,
London, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Tokyo and
HK. Mikaal is currently a mentor at Chinacce-
lerator and a guest writer for Tech in Asia.
FA
www.8securities.co.jp
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
11. - 11fintechnology.jp
Fundinno
Description
Category: Crowdfunding
Fundinno, run by Japan Cloud Capital, is the
first crowdfunding platform service in Japan
that made it possible for investors to support
unlisted, small- and medium-sized companies.
Much like investing, people who give money
to a company through the site receive equity
in the company. Small companies that
normally would struggle to receive investment
can find funding by posting on the site.
The first two companies on the platform raised
JPY 14.6m and JPY 31.3m, respectively,
exceeding their original fundraising target
within ten days.
Fundinno’s target market is huge, given that
99.7% of Japanese companies are deemed to
belong to the small- and medium enterprises
segment, who have a hard time raising much
needed funds in the capital markets.
CEO Profile
Yoshihiro Shibahara
Shibahara-san is a graduate
of the University of
California, followed by a
graduate degree from Meiji
University. His career has
been focused on system de-
Investors
Founded: November 26, 2015
Dai-Ichi-Life Insurance, IR Japan Holdings,
Nobuyuki Idea, SEEDATA
velopment and management consulting.
Shibahara-san established Nippon Cloud Capital
as Japan’s first Type 1 small amount electronic
equity trading business.
https://fundinno.com/
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
12. - 12fintechnology.jp
Good Moneyger
Description
Category: Robo Advisor
Good Moneyger is a business focused on
financial literacy. It is said that Japanese
financial literacy is at the lowest level across
developed countries, but the importance of
finance is increasing more and more in the
future.
Along with diversifying lifestyles, the form of
asset management required will also change.
Next-generation financial services must
realize these needs. Good Moneyger utilizes
technologies such as AI, Robo and
gamification so that more people can get
along with money well.
With Good Moneyger, users can easily follow
the investment recommendations from
professionals, at zero fee, and with a low
running cost.
CEO Profile
Toshihiro Shimizu
Prior to starting Good
Moneyger, Shimizu-san was
an investment banker at
Lehman Brothers and
Lazard, and a Director at
Yamato Capital Partners.
Investors
Founded: April 2015
Shimizu-san holds a bachelor’s degree in
economics from Kyoto University. He is
experienced in cross-border M&A activities,
particularly with a focus on Japanese outbound
investment.
https://goodmoneyger.com/
F17
MUFG
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
13. - 13fintechnology.jp
hokan
Description
Category: InsurTech
hokan, Inc. was founded in 2017 with the aim
of developing a customer relationship
management (CRM)/sales force automation
(SFA) InsurTech service for insurance agents
and a policy management application for
policyholders. hokan is also running a website
that provides guidance on starting and
managing an insurance agency, in addition to
a broad landing page that serves information
about Japanese InsurTech industry.
On June 22, 2018, the company published an
article on PR Times, indicating that rather
than reaching the service release, they
decided to withdraw from business, citing two
major hurdles for their “Zubora” service, all
centered around the revised insurance
business law that came into effect in 2016.
CEO Profile
Naoyuki Kosaka
Kosaka-san holds a degree
in economics from Doshisha
University. After sales
management and financial
planning roles at L’Oreal
and Prudential Financial,
Investors
Founded: August 2017
500 Startups Japan, Beenext, MID Venture Capital
respectively, Kosaka-san founded Financial Japan
Inc. in 2013, to establish independent financial
advisors in the country, and achieved over 200
members. He joined hokan in 2018 as the Chief
Executive Officer.
https://www.corp.hkn.jp/
FL
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
14. - 14fintechnology.jp
Infcurion Group
Description
Category: Payments
Infcurion group runs four businesses covering
consulting, payments solutions and
publishing.
Infcurion provides consulting services mainly
to major clients in Japan, based on state-of-
the-art know-how in payments and financial
services.
Link Processing provides credit card payment
services, centered on the smartphone
payment service "Anywhere".
Nest Egg offers Japan 's first savings
application that will allow users to save money
automatically and without difficulty.
Card Wave published monthly and bi-monthly
credit care industry magazines.
CEO Profile
Hiroki Maruyama
Maruyama-san graduated
from Keio University in 1999
to join JCB, where he
worked on areas such as
credit risk analysis, fraud
detection and marketing.
Investors
Founded: May 1, 2006
SBI Investments
In 2006 he co-founded Infcurion and has been
pursuing his vision for cashless society ever
since. He has been instrumental in building major
business lines of Infcurion Group, such as
consulting and cashless payment and finance.
http://infcurion-group.co.jp/
FA
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
15. - 15fintechnology.jp
justInCase
Description
Category: InsurTech
justInCase is Japan’s first InsurTech startup
with a small and short-term (SSI) license. This
type of insurance license was established with
the revision of the insurance business law in
2006, specifically to force the large number of
mutual insurers, up to then largely
unregulated, into a regulatory regime.
Having founded the company in stealth mode
in late 2016, and filed the SSI application in
spring of 2017, winning three awards at
TechCrunch Tokyo provided the trigger for
Hata-san to focus full-time on justInCase.
Taking the grand prize at the Financial
Innovation Business Conference (FIBC)
Tokyo in early 2018 provided additional
confirmation that this was the right decision.
justInCase has officially received its SSI
license at the end of June 2018.
CEO Profile
Kazy Hata
Hata-san started his career
as an actuary consultant at
Milliman. He was always
outstanding at maths, and in
high school felt like a
genius, he said.
Investors
Founded: May 1, 2006
500 Startups Japan, Naoki Aoyagi
When he entered Kyoto University for his
mathematics degree, he had to realize that there
were many equally talented people around him,
and he started looking for opportunities to
differentiate himself.
https://justincase.jp/
FL
F18
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
16. - 16fintechnology.jp
Keychain
Description
Category: Blockchain
Keychain provides a secure wallet/gateway
software development kit (SDK) for
companies that enables data authentication
and fortifies integrity of the data on the
blockchain.
Keychain provides a Decentralized Data
Provenance platform that allows clients to
control data security without trusted third
parties (such as certificate authorities and
hardware SIM vendors) while integrating
cleanly into existing systems and processes.
Seamless integration, instead of replacement,
is a key advantage to achieving wide adoption
of this powerful innovation.
They are a technology company that believes
in fortifying operational integrity in finance,
IoT, and enterprise through well-engineered,
business solutions.
CEO Profile
Jonathan Hope
Jonathan is a technologist
and entrepreneur with rare
breadth and depth of
experience in financial and
blockchain technology. With
over 15 years of experience
Investors
Founded: May 2016
building and deploying high-performance trading
systems in New York and Tokyo at companies
such as Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg,
Jonathan has now completely focused on applying
blockchain technology.
http://www.keychain.io/
FA
F18
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
17. - 17fintechnology.jp
Leeways
Description
Category: Real Estate
Leeways are the creators of Gate, a
simulation system that estimates the future
profit value of real estate using big data of 58
million independently-collected real estate
transactions. It provides an extremely
transparent platform for the real estate trading
environment by providing a highly accurate
real estate analysis tool with artificial
intelligence.
Leeways believes that the real estate
investment market size can be greatly
expanded. As real estate is a global asset,
cross-border transactions are becoming
commonplace. By realizing a global platform
that allows the trading of real estate worldwide
freely from the limited environment in Japan,
the domestic real estate industry can reach a
new era.
CEO Profile
Shigenori Makiguchi
Makiguchi-san spent time
as a consultant with Bearing
Point and Deloitte Toh-
matsu, before joining co-
founding REISM as a Chief
Financial Officer in 2005.
Investors
Founded: February 3, 2014
In 2014 aiming for further industry reform,
established Makiguchi-san established Leeways,
which focuses on the real estate information
technology business. There he become Chief
Executive Officer and Representative Director.
https://leeways.co.jp/
F18
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
18. - 18fintechnology.jp
Momo
Description
Category: Internet-of-Things
Momo is a start-up based in Kobe. It has been
founded to challenge issues that arise from
technology. Their first product "Otomos Smart
Shield" is a mobile device management
system for drivers and children to prevent
mobile phone addiction. The second product
"Pallete IoT" is an easy-to-configure platform
that enables people to deploy IoT system
effortlessly.
Palette IoT is a platform service that allows
anyone to use IoT without large development
costs, time, or expert knowledge. All users
have to do is place Palette sensors in the
necessary places and download the
application on a smartphone or tablet.
Development of hardware is unnecessary
since all tools needed for development are
included in one kit. System structure can also
be developed intuitively using a smartphone
or tablet.
CEO Profile
Masato Otsu
Otsu-san holds a master’s
degree in cognitive psycho-
logy from the University of
Tokyo. He is decidedly
polyglot, speaking five
languages, including Arabic.
Investors
Founded: 2016
In 2014 aiming for further industry reform,
established Makiguchi-san established Leeways,
which focuses on the real estate information
technology business. There he become Chief
Executive Officer and Representative Director.
https://momo-ltd.com/palette/
F18
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
19. - 19fintechnology.jp
Nayuta
Description
Category: Blockchain, Internet-of-Things
Based in the western Japanese city of
Fukuoka, Nayuta has been offering new
technologies that combine IoT (Internet of
Things) and blockchain.
Nayuta specializes in developing the second
layer technologies for IoT products along with
the Lightning Network concept, planning to
develop the necessary utility tools for every
application in partnership with user
companies. This includes the production of a
power socket that combines IoT (Internet-of-
Things) technology with IoM (Internet-of-
Money) technology to yield a system that
provides users’ control rights using the
blockchain.
Nayuta won the second price at the MUFG
Digital Accelerator 2nd Batch Demo Day.
CEO Profile
Kenichi Kurimoto
Kuriomoto-san has worked
on the development of
advanced system-on-chip
(SoCs) and research into
electronic design auto-
mation (EDA) software algo-
Investors
Founded: March 2015
JAFCO
Rithms for LSI development for more than ten
years. Since 2011, he has been developing a
solution that combines hardware with Android.
http://nayuta.co/
FA
FL
MUFG
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
20. - 20fintechnology.jp
Origami
Description
Category: Payments
Origami provides a smartphone payments app
for iOS and Android. The difficulty of getting
the Japanese to embrace non-cash payments
we have covered recently in our article “The
Curious Case of Cash in Japan”.
Origami first unveiled its mobile app in April
2013. It allows users to follow their favorite
retailers, receive updates on new releases in
a personalized feed, and ultimately purchase
products in-app or in-store.
In addition to their investments, Credit Saison
and Softbank also provided strong
partnerships. With the latter, Origami worked
with group companies SoftBank Mobile and
Generate, both of which are experienced in
digital marketing and the implementation of
online-to-offline (O2O) shopping experiences.
CEO Profile
Yashiki Yasui
Born in Toronto in 1985,
Yasui-san spent his
childhood in Toronto and
New York until moving to
Japan at the age of 10. For
post-secondary education,
Investors
Founded: February 22, 2012
Credit Saison, Digital Advertising Consortium,
KDDI, Makoto Takano, Softbank
he studied at the University of Sydney and later
graduated from Waseda University. Yasui-san
worked first at Lehman Brothers and then at DCM
Ventures, where he lead investments in the US,
Japan and China.
https://origami.com/
FA
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
21. - 21fintechnology.jp
Playbasis
Description
Category: Gamification
Playbasis develops and operates the leading
enterprise-grade cloud platform for embed-
ding social game mechanics, freemium
economics, and Augmented Reality experien-
ces into telecom & financial services
industries.
Playbasis participated in the first Tokyo
Metropolitan Government Accelerator
Program in 2017 and is a resident at Finolab.
“The organizing teams behind Fintech
Business Camp Tokyo have been instru-
mental in helping the startups to quickly
familiarize themselves with the market
conditions in Japan, and have facilitated
business matching with key partners and
potential clients. We look forward to a bright
future in the Land of the Rising Sun!” said
Robert after the program.
CEO Profile
Robert Zepeda
Robert is an American
entrepreneur currently living
in Asia. He has worked in
the games industry for
nearly a decade across a
variety of roles, including
Investors
Founded: 2012
500 Startups, Adrian Vanzyl, Ardent Capital, Axis
Capital Corp, Cherubic Ventures, InVent, Khailee
Ng
product analyst, project manager, and game
designer. He came to Thailand because of his
love for martial arts and soon discovered that
Thailand is not only a beautiful place to be, but
offers great business opportunities.
https://www.playbasis.com/
FL
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
22. - 22fintechnology.jp
Queen Bee Capital
Description
Category: Payments
Queen Bee Capital provides three solutions:
(I) PayForex is a cross border payment
network, bringing fast, cost efficient, and
transparent payment solutions with 20
currencies in over 200 countries to
market, for both the individual and
corporate customers
(II) PayeeLink is an affordable, secure, and
reliable collection service
(III) E-police is a software solution that
manages all aspects of anti-money
laundering (AML) detection and
investigation
To conduct its business, Queen Bee Capital is
registered with the Kanto Regional Financial
Bureau, the Japan Payments Service
Association, and the Japan Collection
Agencies Assocation.
CEO Profile
Shenbo Huang
Investors
Founded: September 2007
https://www.queenbeecapital.com/en/
FA
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
23. - 23fintechnology.jp
Robot Fund
Description
Category: Robo Advisor
Robot Fund aims to transform the operations
and user interface/user experience (UI/UX) in
the asset management industry through the
optimization of communication. To that extent,
the company offers Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) technology and chat bot
services, mutual fund and macro economic
data analysis, as well as robo advisor
engines.
According to their website, Robot Fund breaks
down their offering along the following service
lines:
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
• Mutual Funds Data Analysis
• Macroeconomic Data Analysis
• Asset Management Bot Services
• Robo Advisor
CEO Profile
Satoshi Noguchi
Noguchi-san started his
career at SBI Holdings,
where he handled payment
systems, encryption, credit
card number validation, and
web marketing.
Investors
Founded: May 2016
Incubate Fund, kabu.com Securities, Mizuho
Capital, Mizuho Securities Principal Investments,
MUFJ Bank, SMBC Venture Capital, TechAccel
Ventures
Acquired data and market analysis expertise of
publicly offered mutual funds at Pictet Asset
Management, which he joined in 2011. Graduated
from Faculty of Economics, Chuo University.
https://robotfund.co.jp/en/
MUFG
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
24. - 24fintechnology.jp
Sasuke Financial Lab
Description
Category: InsurTech
Sasuke Financial Lab are the creators of
Donuts, a smartphone app-based insurance
agency platform instantly providing recom-
mendations for life/health insurance policies
that are ready to be obtained.
The underwriting insurance companies
currently supporting Donuts are AXA, Tokio
Marine Nichido and Lifenet.
The key differentiator for Donuts is the
innovative user experience (UX) design,
which is much more aligned with western
thinking in presenting a slick, easy-to-use,
customer journey that delivers a risk
assessment with only seven clicks.
CEO Profile
Kiyotaka Matsui
Born in Hiroshima, Matsui-
san initially studied to
become a composer, before
attending UCLA to obtain an
economics degree. He then
became an investment ban-
Investors
Founded: March 2016
Global Catalyst Partners Japan, KLab Ventures,
Monex Ventures
ker with Lehman Brothers, and joined Nomura
Securities after the bankruptcy. Lastly, he
switched to the buy-side and worked for
Wellington Asset Management before founding
Sasuke Financial Labs.
https://i-donuts.com/
FL
F18
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
25. - 25fintechnology.jp
Transax
Description
Category: Trade Finance
Tranzax provides innovative solutions
regarding supply chain finance, fully utilizing
ERMS (Electronically Recorded Monetary
Claims established by the Japanese
government). Dealing with Tranzax SPC for
ERMS, the obligee of ERMS enjoys a lower
discount rate, and the obligor enjoys
additional financial profits.
Transax expects that electronically recorded
loans will be adopted beyond Japan into
ASEAN countries. They will combine the
latest information technology with the
innovative capabilities of Electronically
Recorded Monetary Claims to offer new
financial opportunities to small and medium
enterprises and venture companies.
CEO Profile
Takashi Ogura
After graduating from
Hitotsubashi University,
Ogura-san joined Nomura
Securities in their Financial
Institution Department as a
relationship manager.
Investors
Founded: July 7, 2009
He then held management roles at FM Tokyo, and
became the Chief Executive Officer at CSK-IS in
Apri 2007, and in July 2009 established the Japan
Electronic Recorded Monetary Claim Research
Institute, a subsidiary of Transax today.
https://www.tranzax.co.jp/index.html
FL
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
26. - 26fintechnology.jp
Unitedly
Description
Category: Financial Inclusion
Unitedly aims to establish a financial platform
for regional revitalization which facilitates local
financial institutions to enhance their
communications with clients and to meet their
diversifying needs.
In order to maximize the value of the
community-based network, which is the
strength of regional banks, Unitedly is
developing and managing the Unitedly.com
system which thoroughly supports regional
banks' business promotion from the viewpoint
of effective use of information.
It is a finance & information technology
platform that makes it possible not only to
promote regional banks alone but also
information coordination and business
collaboration between regional banks.
CEO Profile
Yoshinari Matsuda
Matsusa-san graduated
from from Kyoto University's
Faculty of Law in 2001, and
completed an LLM degree
from the University of
Pennsylvania Law School in
Investors
Founded: December 2015
2008. Between 2002 and 2008, he worked for the
Mori Sogo Law Firm, and after 2008, was
employed by an independent private equity fund
management company. He then joined Helios as
a Director.
http://unitedly.co.jp/
FL
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
27. - 27fintechnology.jp
Valu
Description
Category: Cryptocurrency
Valu, a cross between a trading platform and
crowdfunding site, lets anyone hold a
personal IPO. Anyone — from fishermen and
YouTube celebrities to pastry chefs and
social-media mavens — can sell shares in
themselves to raise funds in a manner similar
to an initial public offering. They attract buyers
by offering gifts and services; for example, a
blogger may offer exclusive posts that can
only be viewed by shareholders, or a
cosplayer may share signed photos.
Valu calculates people’s market capitalization
according to the numbers of followers and
friends in their social media accounts and
allows them to share and trade their own
value once they list their stock (VA) on the
VALU market.
CEO Profile
Kohei Ogawa
Ogawa-san graduated from
Gakushuin University with a
bachelor’s degree in physics
in 2009. He then spent a
year as an exchange
student in Delft, focused
Investors
Founded: November 11, 2016
on technology and policy management, before
graduating from Keio University with a master’s
degree in system design and management in
2011. He worked as a software engineer, mostly
with Gree, before founding Valu.
https://valu.is/
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
28. - 28fintechnology.jp
Warrantee
CEO Profile
Yusuke Shono
Originally, Shono-san was
destined to join an IT
consulting firm in April 2013,
shortly after graduation from
Kyoto University. However,
fate intervened when he
Investors
Founded: October 21, 2013
Cookpad
attended a Silicon Valley workshop organized by
the Osaka Innovation Hub, which convinced him
that entrepreneurship is his future. For six months
from graduation to founding Warrantee, detailed
analysis and business planning were conducted.
https://www.warrantee.co.jp/
FA
FL
Description
Category: InsurTech
Warrantee simplifies the merchandise
warranty management process with a one
stop dashboard, simple registration, and
request for estimates on second hand
products through your app.
Warrantee has also launched on-demand
warranty products, such as the insurance app
released in November 2017, which provides
compensation for broken digital cameras
within three years after purchase, at a fee of
JPY 39 per day. The insurance can be used
specifically on days when consumers go out
carrying digital cameras.
The insurance product is underwritten by
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Mitsui
Sumitomo Insurance, and Aioi Nissay Dowa
Insurance Co., and there are plans to extend
this type of insurance to computers and
household electronic goods.
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
29. - 29fintechnology.jp
xenodata lab
CEO Profile
Yojiro Seki
Qualified as a certified
public accountant while at
Keio University, and spent
five years with Pricewater-
houseCoopers after
graduation. Then joined
Investors
Founded: February 12, 2016
DBJ Capital, kabu.com Securities, Mizuho Capital,
MUFJ Bank, MUFG Capital, Okasan Securities,
SMBC Venture Capital, Teikoku Databank, Tokai
Tokyo Financial Holdings
Uzabase in a business development role,
responsible for scaling SPEEDA, Asia largest
business platform. He worked there from 2012 to
2015, then went on to found xenodata lab.
https://www.xenodata-lab.com/
FA
MUFG
Description
Category: Artificial Intelligence
xenodata lab is developing AI-powered
finance data analytics leveraging Natural
Language Processing (NLP).
xenoFlash specializes in listed stocks in
Japan and uses XBRL (eXtensible Business
Reporting Language) analysis, PDF table
analysis, and PDF graph analysis to convert
information attached to various financial-
related materials into tabular data, which they
then apply their own algorithm to in order to
extract the most important financial points.
xenoStory provides instant reporting in
response to customer's requests, such as
immediately after results reporting, in
automating financial analysis through short
comments of about 3 lines, or a summary of
about 10 lines, etc.
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
30. - 30fintechnology.jp
Zaisan.net
CEO Profile
Shirabe Ogino
After developing new
businesses at SONY,
Ogino-san stepped into the
financial industry, making
investments into Silicon
Valley companies and
Investors
Founded: March 2015
Freebit Investment, Monex Ventures, Waseda
Investment
executed IPO deals, while at Sumitomo and
Itochu’s VC vehicle. In 2011, he joined GREE the
mobile game company, to head its business
development. In 2015, he founded Zaisan.net.
Ogino-san holds a PhD from Tokyo University.
http://azure.zaisan.net/
FA
FLA
F17
F16
Description
Category: Artificial Intelligence
zaisan.net provide a smartphone app that
provides weekly stock price forecast based on
big data and artificial intelligence.
The mobile app named Kabuto
Yohou provided by Zaisan.net informs one of
economic news thought to impact stock
prices. Once reported, economic analysts who
participate in the app will vote on whether the
news will impact stock prices or not. The
votes are tallied in 30 minutes after reporting
said to cause an effect on stock prices, and
the vote results are fed back to users. The
targeted users are day-traders monitoring
stock prices closely. Although even
experienced traders’ prediction accuracy for
stock prices is said to be about 60%, the app
succeeded in raising it to 81% by leveraging
the aggregation of analysts’ knowledge.
Japanese FinTechs from A to Z
32. - 32fintechnology.jp
Introduction
Company Flyer
■ fintechnology.jp is led by a partnership of capital market veterans based in Tokyo
focusing on FinTech advisory, consulting and investments
■ Our experience in building businesses from the ground up in various Asian
markets, including license applications and regulatory inspections:
− Established a commodities trading business (OTC & TOCOM Exchange) in Japan
− Established an Equities broker/dealer entity in China
− Established a fixed income derivatives-focused Bank in Korea
− Established an Equities broker/dealer entity in India
− Supported several regulatory inspections with the Japan FSA, Korean FSC and Singapore MAS
■ Since its inception, fintechnology.jp has been supporting various businesses in
their effort to establish investor relationships, define operating models and position
themselves in the Japanese market (and beyond)
33. - 33fintechnology.jp
Engagement model
Our roles & activities
Company Flyer
Invest
Advisory
Interim Management
Market Entry, Scaling
FinTech Ecoystem
Startups & Incumbents
Domestic Japan, APAC, Europe
Community Building
Tokyo FinTech Meetup
IOTA Meetups across Japan
Academic Interests
New York University SPS, Tokyo Campus – FinTech Class
LUMSA Università, Rome – Master in FinTech & Innovation
34. - 34fintechnology.jp
Engagement model
Japan Focus
Company Flyer
✓ Overseas FinTech Companies
✓ Market and Feasibility
Analyses
✓ Japan Roadmap building
✓ Community Engagement
✓ Commercial Relationships
✓ Interim Management
✓ Japanese FinTech Companies
✓ Project-based overseas tech
projects
✓ Business building in EU and
other markets
✓ Engagement with leading
international blockchain
consortia
Business strategy, advisory and implementation solutions for FinTech companies
Inbound Outbound
35. - 35fintechnology.jp
Credentials
Public roles
Tokyo FinTech Meetup – Overview
Text
Academic
Foundation
Ecosystem
Development
Advisory
Roles
Hero Token Advanced
Blockchain AG
Tontine Trust
Tokyo FinTech
Meetup
SuperCharger
Hong Kong
FinTech and the
Future of Finance
Master in FinTech
and Innovation
FinTech EduLab
36. - 36fintechnology.jp
Team
Maurizio Raffone
Maurizio has 20 years of international finance
experience, with expertise in credit derivatives,
structured finance and fund management.
Maurizio’s most recent roles were as Managing
Director at UniCredit Bank AG, the investment
banking arm of UniCredit SpA, and as Partner at
TriSpan LLP, an asset management firm based
in London, where he was co-Chief Investment
Officer of TriSpan’s global macro fund.
Maurizio is a mentor at SuperCharger, a leading
accelerator in Asia, an advisor to AdvisingAsia,
a consulting firm in Bangkok, and is a scientific
committee member for LUMSA University’s
Master in FinTech & Innovation.
Norbert Gehrke
Norbert is an active investor and advisor in the
fintech ecosystem, assisting start-ups and
incumbents to apply transformative techno-
logies. He has held various leadership roles in
financial services, with strong focus on capital
markets, in New York, London and Tokyo, as a
Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and at
Barclays Investment Bank, as well as a
consultant.
Norbert is also the founder of the Tokyo FinTech
Meetup, a community of 1,600+ individuals,
editor of the Tokyo FinTech publication, an
Adjunct Lecturer at New York University SPS,
Tokyo Campus, and faculty for LUMSA
University’s Master in FinTech & Innovation.
Company Flyer
37. fintechnology.jp
Disclaimer
The material contained herein is confidential. This presentation is not intended for public use or distribution. It may not be copied, transmitted,
given, or disclosed to any person other than your authorized representatives. This presentation is not an advertisement, is being distributed for
informational and discussion purposes only and it should not be construed as legal or regulatory advice on any subject matter. The information
contained herein is not investment or financial product advice and is not intended to be used as the basis for making an investment decision.
No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of the information, opinions
and conclusions contained in this presentation.
fintechnology.jp is a brand of Finetiq Limited