TECHFUND Award Granted to Hitachi's 'Digital Asset Transaction AML Collaboration Concept' Project at Japan New Business Awards
TECHFUND Inc. awarded the 'TECHFUND Award' to Hitachi, Ltd.'s new business, the 'AML Joint Center Project for Digital Asset Transactions,' at the 3rd Japan New Business Awards. This project aims to build a cross-industry anti-money laundering (AML) countermeasure platform to address financial crime risks in the expanding digital asset market, with a service launch planned for October 2026. TECHFUND will provide security support for the project.
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- 📰 Published: April 28, 2026 at 03:15
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TECHFUND Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Co-founders: Yuta Matsuyama, Peace Kawara; hereinafter "the Company"), whose mission is "To make every vision see its dawn," awarded the TECHFUND Award (hereinafter "the Award") to Hitachi, Ltd.'s new business, the "AML Joint Center Project for Digital Asset Transactions" (hereinafter "the Project"), at the 3rd Japan New Business Awards (*1). The Company will provide security support for this Project.
■ Overview
At the 3rd Japan New Business Awards, held on April 15, 2026, which recognizes "intrapreneurs" who create new value within companies, the Company served as a special judge in its capacity as a new business accelerator for major corporations.
The Award was granted to initiatives that met the Company's unique evaluation criteria.
This Award recognizes the social impact and feasibility of new businesses within companies and is independently selected and presented by TECHFUND.
The Hitachi, Ltd. "Digital Asset Transaction AML Collaboration Concept" Project, which received this award, is an initiative to build a cross-industry countermeasure platform against financial crime risks associated with the expansion of the digital asset market.
■ About the "Digital Asset Transaction AML Collaboration Concept" Project
In recent years, with the expansion of the cryptocurrency and digital asset markets, financial crime risks such as money laundering, driven by anonymity and cross-border nature, are increasing globally. (*2)
However, AML (Anti-Money Laundering) measures faced by individual businesses are currently individually optimized, leading to:
- Inefficient information sharing
- Variation in monitoring accuracy
- Increased response costs
This Project aims to consolidate AML operations, which individual companies have previously conducted separately, into a "shared infrastructure," thereby promoting cross-industry information sharing and enhancing the sophistication of transaction monitoring.
Already, 12 financial institutions and digital asset businesses are participating, and demonstration experiments are underway. It has also been selected by the Financial Services Agency's "FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub."
The service is scheduled to launch in October 2026.
■ Reasons for Award
The Company selected this Project for the Award based on the following perspectives:
- High social significance in combating financial crime in the digital asset domain
- Advanced concept aiming for cross-industry problem-solving rather than single-company optimization
- Proven feasibility, already in the demonstration phase involving multiple companies and financial institutions
In particular, the approach of "from individual optimization to industry-wide optimization" was highly evaluated as a rare and potentially model case for new businesses in Japanese companies.
As a supplementary prize for granting this Award, the Company will provide the Project with new business product development support, security vulnerability assessment, and risk countermeasure support in the crypto asset domain, assisting its commercialization and social implementation towards the service launch in 2026.
Through this initiative, we also aim to create a model case where intrapreneurial new businesses do not end at the PoC stage but achieve social implementation.
■ Related Links
*1: 3rd Japan New Business Awards
https://sj.innovationaward.jp/
*2: Increasing international focus on Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing Countermeasures - Financial Services Agency "About Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing Countermeasures in Financial Institutions"
https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/amlcftcpt/index.html
Project Introduction: Realizing Advanced and Efficient AML Measures in Digital Asset Transactions Requires a Shift from Individual to Collaborative Systems
https://www.hitachi.co.jp/products/it/finance/insights/essay/2507-aml.html
About TECHFUND
TECHFUND Inc. is a technology accelerator supporting entrepreneurs with the vision "Everyday, everywhere, the eve of the revolution." Since its establishment in 2014, it has supported over 500 startup teams and entrepreneurs, as well as intrapreneurs belonging to more than 50 major corporations such as Nomura Holdings, SoftBank, and JCB.
It has built a unique support system that balances technological innovation and ensuring reliability in new business development, achieving the creation and growth of new businesses through its "sweat equity" partnership philosophy. Its main businesses include integrating Lean Startup hypothesis testing and Scrum development methodologies, with active entrepreneurs and engineers leading the support to rapidly achieve market fit.
■ Overview
At the 3rd Japan New Business Awards, held on April 15, 2026, which recognizes "intrapreneurs" who create new value within companies, the Company served as a special judge in its capacity as a new business accelerator for major corporations.
The Award was granted to initiatives that met the Company's unique evaluation criteria.
This Award recognizes the social impact and feasibility of new businesses within companies and is independently selected and presented by TECHFUND.
The Hitachi, Ltd. "Digital Asset Transaction AML Collaboration Concept" Project, which received this award, is an initiative to build a cross-industry countermeasure platform against financial crime risks associated with the expansion of the digital asset market.
■ About the "Digital Asset Transaction AML Collaboration Concept" Project
In recent years, with the expansion of the cryptocurrency and digital asset markets, financial crime risks such as money laundering, driven by anonymity and cross-border nature, are increasing globally. (*2)
However, AML (Anti-Money Laundering) measures faced by individual businesses are currently individually optimized, leading to:
- Inefficient information sharing
- Variation in monitoring accuracy
- Increased response costs
This Project aims to consolidate AML operations, which individual companies have previously conducted separately, into a "shared infrastructure," thereby promoting cross-industry information sharing and enhancing the sophistication of transaction monitoring.
Already, 12 financial institutions and digital asset businesses are participating, and demonstration experiments are underway. It has also been selected by the Financial Services Agency's "FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub."
The service is scheduled to launch in October 2026.
■ Reasons for Award
The Company selected this Project for the Award based on the following perspectives:
- High social significance in combating financial crime in the digital asset domain
- Advanced concept aiming for cross-industry problem-solving rather than single-company optimization
- Proven feasibility, already in the demonstration phase involving multiple companies and financial institutions
In particular, the approach of "from individual optimization to industry-wide optimization" was highly evaluated as a rare and potentially model case for new businesses in Japanese companies.
As a supplementary prize for granting this Award, the Company will provide the Project with new business product development support, security vulnerability assessment, and risk countermeasure support in the crypto asset domain, assisting its commercialization and social implementation towards the service launch in 2026.
Through this initiative, we also aim to create a model case where intrapreneurial new businesses do not end at the PoC stage but achieve social implementation.
■ Related Links
*1: 3rd Japan New Business Awards
https://sj.innovationaward.jp/
*2: Increasing international focus on Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing Countermeasures - Financial Services Agency "About Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing Countermeasures in Financial Institutions"
https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/amlcftcpt/index.html
Project Introduction: Realizing Advanced and Efficient AML Measures in Digital Asset Transactions Requires a Shift from Individual to Collaborative Systems
https://www.hitachi.co.jp/products/it/finance/insights/essay/2507-aml.html
About TECHFUND
TECHFUND Inc. is a technology accelerator supporting entrepreneurs with the vision "Everyday, everywhere, the eve of the revolution." Since its establishment in 2014, it has supported over 500 startup teams and entrepreneurs, as well as intrapreneurs belonging to more than 50 major corporations such as Nomura Holdings, SoftBank, and JCB.
It has built a unique support system that balances technological innovation and ensuring reliability in new business development, achieving the creation and growth of new businesses through its "sweat equity" partnership philosophy. Its main businesses include integrating Lean Startup hypothesis testing and Scrum development methodologies, with active entrepreneurs and engineers leading the support to rapidly achieve market fit.