enechain Raises 5.05 Billion JPY in Series B Extension to Accelerate Global-Standard Market Features, Securities and AI Integration 

TOKYO – enechain Corporation today announced it has secured 5.05 billion JPY in a Series B extension round. The funding was led by Coreline Ventures and comprised of a third-party allotment of shares alongside additional long-term loans from major financial institutions. In addition, our group companies, eClear Corporation and eXstend Corporation, have received support, including fundraising, from our joint venture partners, MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, reinforcing a robust financial foundation. This latest round brings the Group’s total cumulative funding to tens of billions of yen.

Since its initial Series B funding in April 2024, enechain has achieved significant milestones. Cumulative Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) in its core wholesale electricity market has surpassed 3 trillion JPY. Notably, screen-based trading volume through "eSquare Live"—a platform designed for intuitive and rapid execution—grew more than 25 times compared to the previous year.

enechain is further strengthening the energy ecosystem through its strategic joint ventures:

• eClear
  A joint venture with MUFG Bank that provides a settlement infrastructure to mitigate credit risk.

• eXstend
  A partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group offering fuel hedging opportunities to manage price volatility.

Both JVs are scaling successfully, providing essential stability for market participants.

The newly raised funds will be deployed to ensure steady growth amidst rapid AI development and ongoing energy reforms in Japan. In addition, enechain aims to strengthen investments to create a platform that is more convenient, safe and secure for market participants to use than ever before, as enechain is responsible for operating an energy marketplace that supports the social infrastructure.

Key investment areas include:

• Next-Generation eSquare Live Investment
  Over the next three years, enechain will elevate the user experience of energy trading to global standards for the Japanese market through below investment.
  Products and data all in one place:
  In addition to electric power, related energy products and data such as
  environmental value will be consolidated into eSquare Live, evolving the platform into one that can easily expand product offerings and add new features in the future.

  Functionality and robustness that meets the global standard:
  enechain will add and enhance trading functions, evolving the platform into one with the world's highest level of UIUX, infrastructure reliability, and availability.

  Powerful ecosystem:
  enechain will expand collaboration with related third-party systems, such as those for supply and demand management and risk management, to strengthen the ecosystem centered on eSquare Live and further improve the operational efficiency of users.

• AI Lab & Product Implementation
  enechain will accelerate the integration of AI into its products and establish an AI lab to research and implement cutting-edge AI technologies, such as price predictions based on the analysis of massive amounts of transaction data and the automation of trading processes.
  

• National-Level Security Infrastructure
  In response to evolving cyber risks, enechain will make large-scale investments in security to protect the critical social infrastructure it operates.
  

• Strategic M&A
  In addition to organic growth, enechain will actively explore M&A opportunities in areas to accelerate the digital transformation (DX) of the energy industry.

"With this funding, our capital has reached the 10 billion JPY milestone," said Ryo Nozawa, Founder and CEO of enechain. "With a strengthened financial base, we will pursue bold moves, including M&A, and double down on AI and screen-based trading to transform the very nature of the market. While we are still on the path to realizing a truly global-level platform from Japan, we remain committed to pioneering this uncharted territory".

Kenichiro Hara, Co-founder and General Partner at Coreline Ventures, added: “This marks our third consecutive lead investment in enechain, spanning back to our investments prior to the spin-out of Coreline. Throughout this period, the company has steadily established the systems, frameworks, and liquidity necessary to realize the ‘fair and transparent exchange’ that Mr. Nozawa envisions.

Furthermore, over the past few years, challenges surrounding energy and power security have become increasingly apparent. As emphasized in the political sphere, the importance of ‘ensuring a stable and affordable supply of electricity’ has never been greater. In this context, we believe the role enechain plays within the ecosystem is becoming increasingly significant.

The enechain team has developed multiple services and products with remarkable speed over the last few years. This is a domain that demands not only deep industry expertise but also complex institutional design, sophisticated stakeholder management, and rigorous compliance. I feel that these achievements could only have been realized by enechain, a company that possesses both the knowledge and networks of the power industry alongside high-level system development capabilities.

We look forward to enechain continuing to evolve into an indispensable market infrastructure that ensures electricity is supplied stably and affordably.”

Series B Extension Investors 

• Coreline Ventures 

• DCM Ventures 

• Minerva Growth Partners 

• JP Investment* 

• Soros Capital Management 

• Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd. 

• Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co., Ltd. 

 *JPS Growth Investment Limited Partnership, managed by Japan Post Investment Growth, LLC

About enechain

enechain is a startup running the largest energy forward marketplace in Japan, with a cumulative GMV of almost 3 trillion JPY. From electricity and fuels to environmental values, our goal is to achieve “Social Good” by creating fair markets where anyone can trade any type of energy.

In addition to our marketplace business, enechain offers a range of integrated tools to support energy trading, including clearing facility, data platform, and risk management software tailored to market participants' needs, providing comprehensive support to energy companies.

Our investors include DCM Ventures, Soros Capital Management, JP Investment*, and nine major Japanese energy companies such as JERA, K4 Ventures (owned by Kansai Electric Power), Chubu Electric Power Miraiz, Tokyo Gas, and Osaka Gas, along with venture capital subsidiaries of all Japan's mega banks.
For more information, please visit enechain.co.jp/en.

*JPS Growth Investment Limited Partnership co-managed by a subsidiary of JP Investment Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment Co.