Credit Saison, a Japanese venture capital firm, has created “Onigiri Capital,” a blockchain investment fund, through its overseas corporate venture capital (CVC) subsidiary in Singapore.
Through lending and investment activities, the fund primarily operates in India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America with the goal of achieving financial inclusion, a universal social challenge, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
Stablecoins, payments, asset tokenization, decentralized finance (DeFi), and financial infrastructure are the five main areas that the fund will concentrate on when it comes to supporting fundraising for blockchain startups in the financial industry.
Its primary focus will be on early-stage businesses, with our seasoned investment team carefully screening potential portfolio companies to ensure alignment with the fund’s strategy and long-term growth potential.
At this point, $35 million of the $50 million investment scale that the fund is aiming for has been secured.
Saison Capital’s international CVC was founded in 2019 and makes investments in promising startups, with a primary focus on Asian FinTech firms.
It has increased its investments in blockchain startups since 2021, concentrating on those that use blockchain technology to develop financial services and products.
The company established this fund to attract other financial institutions interested in blockchain investing by utilizing its accumulated experience and insights from prior blockchain investments.
Through this fund, the company hopes to support the fundraising efforts of startups using blockchain technology to drive innovation, thereby helping to transform the financial sector from a medium-to-long-term perspective.
The creation of this fund is the company’s first move in its international operations and is seen as a step toward diversifying funding sources to encourage innovation and business expansion.
In order to increase the size of its investments and diversify its holdings, the company hopes to draw in outside investors through this fund and make the most of their investment capital.
With its established network of traditional financial institutions and regulators, as well as its experience and insights into blockchain investment developed through its overseas CVC activities, the firm will help advance cutting-edge technological development and foster trust in blockchain technology.
Hans de Back, who has over 20 years of experience as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, and Qin En Looi, Partner at Saison Capital, who has led over 40 blockchain investments, are two of the fund’s accomplished and seasoned members.
