TOKYO, Jun 1, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - JCB Co., Ltd., a global payment network and a leading issuer and acquirer in Japan, and TECHFUND Inc., a technology accelerator promoting innovation in startups and leading companies, have signed a strategic partnership agreement to jointly research the construction of a sustainable payment system using blockchain. Based on TECHFUND's blockchain technologies such as STO (Security Token Offering)*1 and staking*2, JCB and TECHFUND jointly research the payment platform that will contribute to solving various issues in the payment field.

*1 STO: A method of raising funds through tokenized securities issued on the blockchain.*2 Staking: Earning a reward by continuously holding crypto currencies and contributing to the stability of the system.

About JCB

JCB is a global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 34 million merchants as well as cash advance locations around the world. JCB cards are now issued in 24 countries and territories, with more than 140 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with hundreds of leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information, please visit https://www.global.jcb/en/

About TECHFUND

TECHFUND, a TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR, was launched on October 9, 2014 with a vision, "BE AN ENTREPRENEUR". As the world's first technology accelerator to support startups by investing "technology" instead of money, we have been involved in more than 300 teams of mentoring and due diligence, and have invested in 10 companies. At the same time, we provide an intrapreneur program, "ACCEL PROGRAM for BIZ", for major companies and contributed to 30 leading companies' innovations. We also develop scoring algorithms to assess the growth potential of startups and new businesses. TECHFUND is currently focusing on supporting blockchain and STO projects, as well as developing and providing ACCEL BaaS (Blockchain as a Service) to "accelerate" the development of blockchain applications for startups and enterprises. Among the supported startups is EtherSecurity, a company in the staking business.

ContactJCBKumiko Kida, Ayaka NakajimaCorporate CommunicationsPhone: +81-3-5778-8353Email: jcb-pr@jcb.co.jp

TECHFUND Inc.Peaske.KawaharaCommunication Strategy DivEmail: press@techfund.jp (Cc: peaske@techfund.jp)

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