Top 50 Payments Startup Investors in Japan (June 2026)

Portfolio highlights

• Paytner — yup is providing services to support freelance people's funding.The freelance population in Japan has been shown to continue to increase in many Chosa. While working styles are diversified, they are not able to respond to the development of the working environment, and they will develop their business to change the situation where problemssuch as funding, credit, sexual harassment, and power harassment are accumulated.
• Akari Hosho — Akari Hosho provides a group of trusted professionals, including lawyers and judicial scriveners. Akari Hosho provides a guarantee service.
• Black Cat Carnival — Black Cat Carnival Inc. is a communication service development company.

Portfolio highlights

• Samansa — Samansa is a film production company that offers planning, production, and distribution of telefilms, dramas, and short series.
• AndGAMER — AndGAMER is an eSports agency that develops custom controllers and gaming products for players.
• SOUNDRAW — Your personal AI music generator.

Portfolio highlights

• MI-6 — MI-6 is a research, development, consulting, and project management for material development using IT. We will promote materials informatics in the field of material development with our technological capabilities and a wealth of project knowledge that challenge the world's most advanced technologies .
• ELESTYLE — ELESTYLE are promoting mobile payments and providing high value-added services for users to realize a cashless society.
• Luup — Luup is an Internet Company.

Portfolio highlights

• Letara — Letara operates a space technology platform with the intention to serve a logistics network covering the solar system. The company produces hybrid propulsion engines for small spacecraft, promoting groundbreaking advances in space propulsion with high thrust, safe, and inexpensive propulsion system technology.
• Pragtech — Pragtech develops and operates parking lot service software that helps to eliminate payment congestion and reduce operating costs.
• Metro Weather — Metroweather is a venture from Kyoto University that develops a high-performance Doppler lidar that measures the direction and speed of wind several tens of kilometers away from minute movements of fine particles in the atmosphere. We aim to contribute to the safety of the sky by completing a three-dimensional wind map, which has never beenrealized,based on years of research at the Kyoto University Research Institute for Sustainable Areas.

Portfolio highlights

• FR8Labs — FR8Labs offers a practical freight forwarder solution that includes all of the modules required, without the extraneous trappings of overly sophisticated features that may not use but wind up paying for.
• Runchise — Runchise is an integrated restaurant and franchise management system to increase operational efficiency and profit.
• Fresh Factory — Fresh Factory runs a web of hyperlocal cold-chain fulfilment centers in Indonesia.

Portfolio highlights

• Plott — Plott producing youtube animation platform under Vision “Become a Content holder from YouTube”. In August 2019, the company name was changed from Fabo to Plott. Plott, the new company name, is derived from the plot that you make before writing novels, etc., and the idea that “I want to make content all the time” is put in the company name.
• Sharing Energy — Sharing Energy is providing energy supply and energy management services.
• The Chain Museum — The Chain Museum creates a platform for connecting individuals .

Portfolio highlights

• 3S — 3S is a SaaS developer platform that provides and operates 24-hour home nursing care services through technology.
• Knowledge Work — Knowledge Work specializes in the development and sales of software for companies.
• Rendez-Vous — RENDEZ-VOUS offers a co-ownership option for vintage cars.

Portfolio highlights

• LQUOM — QWAVE offers cryptography communication technology.
• Captain Fresh — Captain Fresh is a freshwater fish and seafood supply chain platform. Captain Fresh is a B2B marketplace leveraging technology to deliver the fastest harvest-to-retail in the industry. The company focuses on aggregating the fragmented retail demand across the country and linking them to the small fishermen and farmers throughout the Indian coast.The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Bengaluru, India.
• Sonire Therapeutics — Sonire Therapeutics provides High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound treatment for cancer.

Portfolio highlights

• Nstock — Nstock is specialized in developing SAAS based applications for ecosystem.
• STRACT — STRACT is a web platform that provides online platform, dating app, knowledge sharing cloud platform, and casual entertainment services.
• PartnerSuccess — PartnerSuccess develops and provides SaaS tools that automate the collaboration between manufacturers and distributors.

Portfolio highlights

• Menou — MENOU specializes in AI technology and sensing technology. It features a graphical image identification modeler software.
• Castee — Castee provides social collaboration services and also helps with a tool for job requests and overseas projects for creators.
• 3S — 3S is a SaaS developer platform that provides and operates 24-hour home nursing care services through technology.

Portfolio highlights

• Drip Capital — Drip Capital is a Trade Finance company providing collateral-free post-shipment finance to Exporters and Importers with instant approvals and minimal documentation.
• UltraTech Cement — UltraTech Cement is an Indian multinational cement firm that produces and distributes gray cement, ready-mix concrete, and white cement. It serves as a home-building partner, providing a complete range of building materials and support throughout the process. It is committed to actively maintaining the environment and conserving natural resourcesfor the future, with a focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling.
• Waypoint Leasing Services — Waypoint Leasing is a global helicopter leasing company founded in 2013 to provide financing solutions to helicopter operators worldwide. Headquartered in Limerick, Ireland, Waypoint differentiates itself with a senior management team possessing direct helicopter operating and helicopter leasing experience. Their deep operational backgroundtranslates directly to a passion for rotary-wing aviation and a commitment to building long-lasting partnerships.

Portfolio highlights

• XProtocol — XProtocol is a modular entertainment chain that uses base's superchain technology to help developers create games with player-driven economies.
• Redacted Coin — Redacted is a Web3 entertainment and gaming platform.
• Mythic Protocol — The Central Hub for Mythic Operatives to conduct their operations

Portfolio highlights

• Mokable — MOKABLE is a startup introducing a new concept called "eating coffee," aiming to let consumers fully enjoy the flavor of carefully grown coffee beans. Their product uses finely ground whole coffee beans to enhance and maximize the rich aroma and taste of the coffee.
• Syukatsu Labo — Syukatsu Labo is a leading company that solves various problems in an aging society.
• Tensor Energy — Creating the operating system of our zero-carbon, distributed energy future

Portfolio highlights

• Sazo — Sazo specializes in constructing a global e-commerce and logistics network with AI.
• Pragtech — Pragtech develops and operates parking lot service software that helps to eliminate payment congestion and reduce operating costs.
• Shinsekai Technologies — SHINSEKAI Technologies focuses on supporting companies, enabling them to advance their services to Web3 and NFT technologies.

Portfolio highlights

• Eyeota — Engage your best customers with trusted audience data | enrich insights, enhance personalization and transform audience targeting.
• Luup — Luup is an Internet Company.
• Logly — Logly is a media Technology Business / Ad Technology Business.

Portfolio highlights

• Banzai — Leverage Banzai's event solutions to transform your bored registrants into paying customers. Learn more about Reach and Demio today.
• Siftery — Siftery is a database of sorts where companies list their software stacks. Siftery compares companies with similar stacks and looks for differences to make some recommendations.
• Zehitomo — Zehitomo is an Japanese online platform that enables user to hire local service professionals, from photographers to personal trainers.

Portfolio highlights

• pickupon — Pickupon is a company that transcribes important parts of the call
• Bravesoft — bravesoft is a software company that operates events and in-house product for contract development and events. The company offering services such as UI / UX design, application consignment development service, appvisor push, and technical research service.
• ventus Japan — ventus is an Media and Entertainment based company.ventus aiming to be an entertainment company that provides technology that all fans can enjoy.

Portfolio highlights

• NodeFlair — NodeFlair aims to help tech talents make better career decisions through jobs, salaries, reviews, company insights, and more
• AGRI SMILE — AGRI SMILE is a platform that focuses on sharing agricultural technology.
• Tyms — Tyms online accounting software for your business connects you to your bank, accountant, bookkeeper, and other business apps. Start a free trial today. Also available in Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius and South Africa.

Portfolio highlights

• Axiata — As one of Asia's leading telecommunications groups, Axiata has grown into a Triple Core Business centred on digital telco, businesses and infrastructure.
• BitFlyer — BitFlyer is a bitcoin exchange and marketplace that enables its customers to buy, sell, and spend bitcoins.
• Kyash — Kyash is a fintech platform providing mobile banking services with full-stack banking technology currently offering digital wallet app. It has built proprietary full-stack banking infrastructure from the ground up to offer mobile-first consumer-facing digital wallets in Japan.The platform offers online payment and personal remittance apps underthe Kyash service name, and issues prepaid cards that can be used at Visa merchants. It also provides a new card that is available in three colors, navy, silver, and pink and adopts a simple design with card numbers and card names placed on the back. The first Visa card in Japan with an IC chip and contactless payment function that has no card number on the front side.Kyash was founded on January 23, 2015, and is based in Tokyo, Japan.

Portfolio highlights

• Skild AI — Building general purpose robotic intelligence
• AMEA Power — Founded in 2016, AMEA Power has assembled a leading team of global industry experts to deliver clean energy projects across Africa, the Middle East and other emerging markets.
• Telexistence — TELEXISTENCE Inc. aims to be the systematic innovator of scale in robotics. Innovator means new stuff. And scale means big, systematic ways of looking things done in a way that’s reproducible.

Portfolio highlights

• CoreWeave — CoreWeave provides flexible compute services and products to empower innovators. The company provides GPU accelerated compute solutions to the CGI and machine learning industries. Backed by quality hardware and systems management infrastructure, CoreWeave is built to help clients scale and adapt to evolving compute requirements at industry leadingeconomics.
• Zap Energy — Zap Energy's fusion reactor stabilizes plasma using sheared flows rather than magnetic fields. Driving electric current through the flow creates the magnetic field, which confines and compresses the plasma. The higher the current, the greater the pressure and density in the plasma. Zap Energy's reactor is the least expensive, mostcompact, most scalable solution with the shortest path to commercially viable fusion.
• MARELLI — Be part of innovation of automotive industry co-creating technological solution with an experienced partner as Marelli enpowering automakers.

Portfolio highlights

• CAMPFIRE — Campfire engages in the planning, development, and operation of a crowd funding platform.They operate the largest cloud funding platform in Japan [CAMPFIRE (campfire)], which supports "whoever wants to start something."The fee is 5% of the domestic level, and about 15,000 projects have collected about $70million in total from over700,000 people.

Portfolio highlights

• Yuurea — Yuurea is a healthcare company that develops mobile applications for analyzing the health metrics from urine test and AI questionnaire.
• Al Travel — Al Travel is a next-generation cloud-type business travel arrangement and management system (BTM). AI Travel reduces business travel arrangements by up to 90% and simplifies application and reporting operations and significantly cuts operations that do not generate profits in the batch settlement.
• Pinpin Kirari — Pinpin Kirari is a web platform that supports the region of the elderly.

Portfolio highlights

• Mento — UGOKU is a provider of management of personal coaching service.
• KAUCHE — KAUCHE is a social commerce app. They provide services for online and mail-order retail shops. Their customers' inquiries are addressed through phone, email, and online applications.
• Unito — Unito offers people a friction-free lifestyle by pursuing optimization of living.

Portfolio highlights

• Tane — Dubai/NYC/Tokyo-based crypto-focused investment research firm. Investing in the Future of Decentralization.
• Buzzreach — Buzzreach is a Tokyo-based MedTech Company.
• Neighbor — Neighbor is a metaverse game developer that specializes in Fortnite.

Portfolio highlights

• Fivot — Fivot is a financial company that provides venture capital, financing, credit, money lending, and prepaid payment services.
• digzyme — Digzyme is a research and development platform for creating, discovering, and evaluating new enzyme-catalyzed reactions by bioinformatics.
• Zehitomo — Zehitomo is an Japanese online platform that enables user to hire local service professionals, from photographers to personal trainers.

Portfolio highlights

• Blacklane — Blacklane is the global chauffeur service that offers safety, sustainability, and stress-free travel. Since 2017, the company has been carbon-neutral, combining a five-star guest experience with care for the planet. The customers can book their travels using Blacklane’s mobile app or website.Blacklane was co-founded by Jens Wohltorf and FrankSteuer and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
• Steady — Home Page Steady Your Income Home Page Steady Your Income Home Page Steady Your Income
• ZenBusiness — Start a new business today for $0 or grow your existing business with the ZenBusiness platform. Get to your first dollar faster without the stress.

Portfolio highlights

• Logiless — Logiless is a cloud type all-in-one software dedicated to net shop. Since both orders and stocks can be managed together in a logical manner, efficiency of operations can be realized at low cost.
• LUC — LUC is a provider of the AI ​​x experience analysis platform "TERUS," .
• Turing — Turing develops and manufactures fully autonomous vehicles.

Portfolio highlights

• Degas — Degas develops solutions to improve the productivity of small-scale farmers in Africa.
• pickupon — Pickupon is a company that transcribes important parts of the call
• Rise — Rise is a credit-led platform that enables underserved consumers to access installment-based purchasing power.

Portfolio highlights

• Lecto — Lecto provides Saas solutions to eliminate the tedious practices behind financial services
• Luup — Luup is an Internet Company.
• Neighbor — Neighbor is a metaverse game developer that specializes in Fortnite.

Portfolio highlights

• Balus — Balus provides motion capture, Unity systems, and AR live permanent venues.The company provides character content infrastructure using real-time animation, we also support the production of original content. Balus provides the necessary technology for event planning, casting, VR events, recording and creation of production images, real-timemotion capture during live events, real-time transmission, event management, and systems that allow users to participate in the production.
• Aperza — Aperza's mission is to contribute to redesigning the manufacturing industry by eliminating three barriers in the industry which are the barrier of information, transaction and communication which most of companies and people often face in this industry.Manufacturing industry is Japanese core industry. We would like to contribute to therebirth of this industry by those activities such as supporting those companies who challenges the global market and supporting those start-ups who tries brand-new industry trend such as Industry 4.0, smart factory or IoT. We believe that this lead to the increase of the people in this industry, and the growth of the industry eventually.
• Leaner Technologies — Leaner Technologies provides cloud-based software for cost reduction analysis.

Portfolio highlights

• Wondera — Wondera is a developer of Web3-based social entertainment software designed to reward users for singing and other creative performances. The platform allows users to create personalized AI singers, participate in karaoke, record music, and contribute to the training of artificial intelligence models—all free of charge. By integrating user-generatedcontent with advanced AI technologies, Wondera enables individuals to express their creativity, develop their talents, and engage in an interactive, rewards-driven entertainment experience.
• Terminal 3 — We empower an equitable digital future
• Lima Technology — Lima Technology is an insurance intermediary mobile marketing and office management platform. Lima Technology develops an intelligent hub in the insurance supply chain and delivers targeted solutions for insurance sales agencies. It provides innovative and reliable technical support for insurance sales organizations of different sizes, based oncloud computing and big data. It also integrates the mobile application services needed by the exhibition industry to enhance operation efficiency and develops an efficient self-service sales experience.Lima Technology promotes the transformation of insurance sales agencies to digitalization and intelligence, and maintains the vitality of development, through its intelligent business management platform.Lima Technology is headquartered in Beijing, China.

Portfolio highlights

• Taliki — Taliki is a Coworking Space Operates Social Entrepreneurs Development Support for Intrepreneur Development.
• One Nova — One Nova (ワンノバ) is a lifestyle brand and online platform that offers a range of innerwear products, such as men's boxers.
• Vivid Garden — vivid garden is an Agriculture company.

Portfolio highlights

• Lisse — Lisse offers legal business innovation through the use of AI.
• Chatwork — Chatwork is a communication platform designed for companies and teams, also comes with fully integrated task and file management feature.
• Stock — Stock develops products that relieve the stress of sharing information from teams around the world.

Portfolio highlights

• Progate — Progate is an online platform to learn programming. Learn to build your own apps and services.
• Coco — Coco is a communication tool. They develop software that will help the service sector become more customer-oriented. They improve customer satisfaction by digitizing customer surveys and converting telephone interactions with customers to text chat.
• 91springboard — Explore 91Springboard, the best co-working company offering premium co-working spaces and shared office solutions. Whether you're a startup, freelancer, or team, enjoy flexible workspaces, modern amenities, and prime locations tailored to your needs.

Portfolio highlights

• AssetHub — AssetHub is an AI-powered 3D modeling tool that enables game developers to create and edit 3D assets 100 times faster, enabling mass production of content and combining AI with manual work, enabling faster prototyping and editing.
• Peach Cars — Buy or sell your car in Nairobi-Kenya with ease. Browse a wide range of vehicles, connect with trusted sellers, and find the perfect car today. Simple, fast, and secure transactions.
• AnotherBall — AnotherBall is a blockchain startup that combines entertainment and blockchain.

Portfolio highlights

• Emium — Emium creates an infrastructure that will be a driving force in dental care and dental technology.
• Fermelanta — Fermelanta produces rare plant-based ingredients through microbial fermentation. It engineers a cell to build a biosynthetic pathway of target molecules with gene transfer and disruption.
• Willbox — Willbox is an international logistics company providing an international logistics digital platform for shippers and logistics companies. The company's platform "Giho" connects shippers and logistics companies (transportation, packaging, warehousing, customs clearance, etc.) with a direct contract. It visualizes the three elements of[lead time, money, and safety], which have been regarded as a black box, and supports comparative examination and decision making. Willbox digitizes the packing technique of wooden boxes and steel, mandatory for international logistics, and incorporated them into their system. Their mission is to solve the logistics issues focusing on the large cargo of industrial products.The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa.

Portfolio highlights

• oVice — oVice is a virtual spatial platform that allows people to gather in one place, move, talk, and collaborate freely as avatars. With the mission of “maximizing effective online communication”, oVice develops and provides lifelike features that offer users a close-to-reality interactive online experience. Featuring customization, you can change thelayout to match the theme of your usage, build lockable rooms, place down static objects, and more!Use it as a remote office, an event venue, an academic conference hall, and even a space for parties!
• Yozboshi — Yozboshi is a software firm that develops accounting software along with legal compliance consulting services.
• Colega AI — Create engaging social media content every day with AI. Colega AI is your AI social media manager that helps your business grow and reach new customers.

Portfolio highlights

• Autify — AI software testing company aimed at solving the challenges associated with automation testing. We are passionate about making software testing faster and easier, empowering companies to release faster and keep their applications stable.
• Nekonome — Nekonome creates a game platform with global character designs, in-game updates, and regular events, providing a personalized gaming experience based on data.
• AVA Intelligence — AVA Intelligence is a Internet service development company.

Portfolio highlights

• TakeMe Co., Ltd. — TakeMe aims to provide an “One-stop Inbound destination service” by enabling tourist to easily find, communicate with, and pay with smartphones via QR code at In-Travel destinations. TakeMe, is the country’s largest inbound service platform in Japan, which lets tourists find, communicate with, and pay with QR code at our affiliated shops,restaurants and tourist attractions. Since our launch in 2015 as JapanFoodie, we have expanded our merchant base to tens of thousands beyond food and restaurants, to include travel, lodging, shopping and events, providing every tourist with the best experience as your best local guide and friend.

Portfolio highlights

• Habitto — Habitto by SJ Mobile Labs is a new financial services venture focused on the Japanese market. The team and its advisors have a breadth of experience ranging from insurance, banking, e-commerce, adtech and ventures across five continents. This provides them with a unique approach to entering new markets and building valuable businesses.

Portfolio highlights

• Flyle — Flyle provides a cloud based platform for product management helping customers to improve productivity & creativity in product development.
• Sustainable Lab — SusLab is a data bank that uses AI technology to support SDG and ESG development goals and investments.
• Paytner — yup is providing services to support freelance people's funding.The freelance population in Japan has been shown to continue to increase in many Chosa. While working styles are diversified, they are not able to respond to the development of the working environment, and they will develop their business to change the situation where problemssuch as funding, credit, sexual harassment, and power harassment are accumulated.

Portfolio highlights

• Tremor — Tremor designs, builds & manages SmartMarkets utilize state-of-art auction technologies & optimization techniques.
• TrueLayer — We power faster and safer online payments with our open banking payments network. Onboard users, accept payments & make payouts in seconds. Learn more today.
• Maxwell Financial Labs — Hi, we're Maxwell. We’re on a mission to revolutionize the $8.5T residential mortgage market by reimagining how mortgage lenders collaborate with homebuyers and real estate agents to buy a home. We connect our hundreds of lenders onto one seamless, intuitively-designed platform, so the focus isn’t the paperwork, it’s the place to call home.Today, hundreds of lenders across the United States use Maxwell’s digital mortgage platform to originate billions in mortgage loans each month at a cycle time 45 percent faster than the national average.

Portfolio highlights

• Fivot — Fivot is a financial company that provides venture capital, financing, credit, money lending, and prepaid payment services.
• Agility — Agility develops humanoid robots and automation platforms for warehouse, manufacturing, and logistics operations. It provides robotic deployment solutions and software platforms that support industrial automation and the handling of repetitive tasks. The company also offers software platforms to manage and support robotic operations in industrialenvironments.
• Gastrograph — Gastrograph AI has designed the first artificial intelligence platform to interpret and predict flavor preferences for over a billion unique consumer groups. This technology empowers CPGs to look beyond trends, and formulate unique, novel and successful food and beverage products based on custom sensory intelligence.

Portfolio highlights

• Knowns — Knowns offers consumer data analysis services.
• S-Canvas — S-Canvas is an interior design company that offers 3D designs, decorations, and ideas for an ideal room.
• RoboTruck — RoboTruck develops autonomous driving technologies for huge trucks, as well as practical applications.

Portfolio highlights

• XDeli — XDeli is a digital application that offers food delivery and meal subsidy service for corporate employees.
• Castee — Castee provides social collaboration services and also helps with a tool for job requests and overseas projects for creators.
• SImount — SImount is a database management system platform that connects all data such as Excel, CSV, PDF. Moreover, It can utilize all the data related to business, leading to higher business efficiency and higher sales.

Portfolio highlights

• Now Do — Now Do provides online growth revolution platform.
• RE — RE specializes in smartphone application design and development.
• Vitalogue Health — Vitalogue Health offers Canvas, a home-based hormone testing service for women.

Portfolio highlights

• TelaAxon — TelaAxon develops artificial intelligence technology for sustainable operations, enhancing human-AI coexistence, safety, and wellness.
• SecureNavi — SecureNavi offers automation tools for the information security management system. It reduces conventional analogue operations using excel and word. For inquiries, telephone numbers and physical addresses are available on their website.
• Link Therapeutics — Link Therapeutics specializes in developing therapeutic methods for targeting autoantibodies and identifying pathogenic autoantibodies.

Portfolio highlights

• Taxnap — Taxnap develops tax management software for freelancers.
• Sumutasu — sumutasu is an online real estate marketplace that enables users to quickly buy and sell their properties.
• UltraTech Cement — UltraTech Cement is an Indian multinational cement firm that produces and distributes gray cement, ready-mix concrete, and white cement. It serves as a home-building partner, providing a complete range of building materials and support throughout the process. It is committed to actively maintaining the environment and conserving natural resourcesfor the future, with a focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Portfolio highlights

• Ginkan — GINKAN is the managing company of SynchroLife, the world's first restaurant recommendation platform where users and can earn cryptocurrency token rewards for dining out and posting restaurant reviews. GINKAN was selected for Plug and Play Japan Batch 1 in the fintech category and we won for best domestic fintech company and won the audienceaward at the Plug and Play Japan Batch 1 EXPO (Demo Day) in September 2018.GINKAN was also selected for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s MUFG Digital Accelerator’s Batch 4 and won the Grand Prix, Audience Award, and AWS Award in a triple win on their demo day on July 26, 2019.