Startale Group, a Web3 company registered in Singapore that serves the Japanese market, announced on 26 March 2026 that it had raised about ¥8bn (about $50m) from SBI Group. The money is the second close of its Series A. Together with the Sony Innovation Fund's investment announced in January 2026, the round totals about ¥10bn, or $63m, according to the company's announcement and The Block.
The Block put the Sony portion at about $13m, so SBI's share is the larger part of the round. No valuation was disclosed. This article counts only the ¥8bn announced on 26 March in its amount field.
“The world's transition to on-chain is now a set course.”Sota Watanabe, CEO, Startale Group
What Startale builds
The announcement named three products. Strium is a blockchain for the continuous trading of all asset types, including tokenised stocks, indexes, gold and oil, developed with SBI Group. The Block described it as a Layer 1 blockchain focused on tokenised securities and real-world asset trading.
JPYSC is a yen stablecoin that the announcement described as trust-based. The Block called it the first trust bank-backed Japanese yen stablecoin. The Startale App is an on-chain super-app with a wallet that hides the underlying blockchain from users. The Block also mentioned a stablecoin called USDSC and Soneium, an Ethereum Layer 2 network that Startale and Sony launched together.
What the money is for
Startale said it will use the funds to build and deploy Strium so financial institutions and businesses can issue and trade tokenised assets, to promote JPYSC as a link between fiat currency and blockchain for payments and fund management, and to develop the Startale App wallet for a simpler user experience. It also plans to widen use cases through SBI Group's customer base and business network.
The Block reported that the app is to be upgraded into a super-app for asset management, payments, blockchain applications and social features.
In their words
Chief executive Sota Watanabe said: "The world's transition to on-chain is now a set course." He also said the on-chaining of finance is no longer a future to come but a reality happening right now. The Block quoted him saying that through the deep collaboration with SBI, the company will accelerate the adoption of tokenised stocks.
Yoshitaka Kitao, chairman and president of SBI Holdings, said Startale possesses extensive knowledge in the on-chain domain.
Company details
The announcement was datelined Tokyo, while the legal entity is Startale Group in Singapore, so this article gives no city. Neither source named the company's founders, gave its founding year or reported a headcount, and neither described funding before the Sony and SBI rounds.
The two sources differ slightly on the date: the company's announcement is dated 26 March, while The Block's article is dated 25 March. The Block said the company announced the round in a press release on a Wednesday, and it listed SBI Group and the Sony Innovation Fund as the only investors.
Company website: startale.com