JPX Market Innovation & Research, Inc. (JPXI) has made a strategic investment of approximately JPY 300 million in Smartround, Inc through a combination of newly issued warrants and a secondary purchase of shares from an existing shareholder.

The two companies have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore collaboration in three areas: (1) improving liquidity in Japan’s private markets; (2) integrating Smartround’s private-market data infrastructure with JPX Group’s market infrastructure; and (3) delivering information and resources to startups, their shareholders, and investors.

Smartround operates smartround, an equity management platform for startups and investors covering cap table management, shareholder registry, stock option plan administration, and portfolio management.

On October 2, 2026, building on this platform, Smartround launched its secondary offering service, SPO (Secondary Private Offering), which enables startups to run company-led / structured secondary transactions as part of their growth strategy through Smartround Securities, Inc, its registered broker-dealer subsidiary. SPO enables startups to run structured secondary transactions as part of their growth strategy.

Through this investment, JPXI will support the development of secondary-market infrastructure for private shares and work to strengthen Japan’s ecosystem for pre-IPO and newly public companies and their investors.

The two companies will focus their discussions on the following three areas and work toward particular initiatives:

• Joint initiatives to improve liquidity in the private markets;
• Integrating the platform and data infrastructure provided by Smartround and Smartround Securities with the market infrastructure and information services operated by JPX Group;
• Providing information and resources to startups, their shareholders, and investors; cross-referring customers between the two companies; and pursuing other collaborative initiatives.