News Release

Nov. 05, 2026 JPXI JPXI Makes Strategic Investment in Smartround, Inc.

JPX Market Innovation & Research, Inc. (JPXI) has made a strategic investment of approximately JPY 300 million in Smartround, Inc. (Smartround) through a combination of newly issued warrants and a secondary purchase of shares from an existing shareholder. The two companies have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore collaboration in three areas: (1) improving liquidity in Japan's private markets; (2) integrating Smartround's private-market data infrastructure with JPX Group's market infrastructure; and (3) delivering information and resources to startups, their shareholders, and investors.

Investment Rationale

JPXI, its parent company Japan Exchange Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries (collectively, JPX Group) are committed to contributing to realizing an affluent society through sustainable market development, including by improving the convenience of financial and capital markets.

Japan's ecosystem for pre-IPO and newly public companies and their investors faces two structural challenges: expanding access to growth capital for startups and enabling capital recycling for investors. The Study Group on Developing the Growth Market, established by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., has identified the lack of liquidity for pre-IPO startup shares (private shares) as one of the issues that must be addressed to enable high growth after listing on the Growth Market.

Against this backdrop, Smartround operates smartround, an equity management platform for startups and investors covering cap table management, shareholder registry, stock option plan administration, and portfolio management. On October 2, 2026, building on this platform, Smartround launched its secondary offering service, SPO (Secondary Private Offering), which enables startups to run company-led / structured secondary transactions as part of their growth strategy through Smartround Securities, Inc. (Smartround Securities), its registered broker-dealer subsidiary. SPO enables startups to run structured secondary transactions* as part of their growth strategy.

Through this investment, JPXI will support the development of secondary-market infrastructure for private shares and work to strengthen Japan's ecosystem for pre-IPO and newly public companies and their investors.

Areas of Potential Collaboration

The two companies will focus their discussions on the following three areas and work toward concrete initiatives.

About Smartround

Reference: JPX Ventures, the Corporate Venture Capital Arm of JPXI

JPX Ventures is the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of JPXI, housed within its Frontier Development Department. It makes minority investments in and partners with startups to generate strategic returns that make JPX markets more attractive.
JPX Ventures officially launched in April 2026, and Smartround is its first portfolio company.
JPX Ventures will continue to back innovations that shape the future of the financial and capital markets and accelerate the realization of JPXI's vision.