Fujitsu VC unit backs rice trading platform

Fujitsu Ventures was set up in April with a JPY10 billion ($91 million) fund and is headed by Hideaki Yajima, a former managing director at NTT Docomo Ventures.

The parent company has been helping Rice Exchange develop a blockchain system since 2019. This technology is said to remove barriers that have historically prevented transparent, low-risk trading in rice, one of the world’s largest agricultural commodities.

As a result, buyers, sellers, and service providers can easily find each other in a digital environment, efficiently conduct trades, and arrange insurance, shipping, inspection, and settlement with the assurance of seamless integration and verifiable data.

Operations began in September 2020, with the first trades connecting sellers in Singapore, India, and Pakistan with buyers in Europe and Africa. The launch coincided with the establishment of Digital Commodity Exchange (DCX) as a holding company for Rice Exchange and sister platform Fertilizer Exchange.

Fujitsu Ventures plans to help DCX branch into other food and agriculture areas, as well as manufacturing and international trading businesses. In addition to supporting technology buildouts, it will help provide the company with services that contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goals. The size of the investment was not disclosed.

Fujitsu’s first corporate VC fund was set up in 2006, with second and third vintages following in 2010 and 2015. In 2015, the company also launched an accelerator program, which has promoted more than 100 start-ups to date.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• North Asia
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Singapore
• Japan
• Agriculture
• Financial Services
• blockchain
• corporate-venture-capital