enechain Subsidiary eClear Receives Investment from MUFG Bank -- MUFG enhances eClear’s ability to reduce credit risk in power transactions

TOKYO, August 30, 2024 —  enechain, a company that offers the largest wholesale energy trading marketplace in Japan, announced that its subsidiary eClear Corporation has received significant investment from MUFG Bank, a consolidated subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and has concluded an agreement with the bank. With this capital investment MUFG Bank will take a 49% stake in eClear, with the remaining 51% owned by enechain.

eClear provides services to reduce counterparty risk in wholesale electric power transactions on enechain's eSquare platform, Japan's largest electric power hedging marketplace. This service was designed and developed independently by the enechain Group. The platform utilises credit insurance and other means to prevent credit problems and chain failures among energy providers, thereby enhancing the reliability of the electric power market as a whole.

With this investment, eClear's capital will be increased allowing it to evolve into a larger and more robust service. enechain will continue to contribute to the further development of the power industry by enhancing eClear's functionality to improve the convenience and reliability of transactions throughout the wholesale power market.

Ryo Nozawa, enechain’s founder and CEO, says, "We are pleased that Mitsubishi UFJ Bank has highly evaluated the liquidity of our power marketplace and the structure of eClear, and thus, decided to invest to us. Together with MUFG, we will work to make eClear more accessible to a wider audience, evolve it into a form that can accommodate medium- to long-term and large-scale transactions, and improve the reliability of the industry as a whole.”

As the operator of Japan's largest energy exchange, enechain provides trading opportunities for wholesale electric power and environmental value with the mission of "Building Energy Markets, Coloring Our Society.” enechain will continue to strive to contribute to "minimizing the impact of energy price fluctuations" and "stabilizing the economy" in Japan.

About Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and MUFG Bank

MUFG Bank, Ltd. is Japan’s premier bank, with a global network spanning around 40 countries. Outside of Japan, the bank offers an extensive scope of commercial and investment banking products and services to businesses, governments and individuals worldwide.

MUFG Bank’s parent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world’s leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with approximately 2,000 locations in more than 40 countries. The Group has about 120,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing. The Group aims to “be the world’s most trusted financial group” through close collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world. MUFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges.

For more information, visit https://www.mufg.jp/english.

About enechain

enechain is a startup running the largest energy forward marketplace in Japan, with a GMV of 1 trillion JPY in 2023. 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.

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