UPSIDER BLUE DREAM Fund Executes 500 Million Yen Loan to bitBiome Inc.

The 'UPSIDER BLUE DREAM Fund,' Japan's first growth-stage venture debt fund managed by UPSIDER Capital—a joint venture between UPSIDER Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group—has executed a 500 million yen loan to bitBiome Inc. bitBiome is a biotechnology company that leverages its proprietary microbial genome analysis technology and one of the world's largest microbial gene databases to develop industrially applicable microbial strains and enzymes. UPSIDER Capital decided on this financing based on the company's research and development capabilities and its ability to drive commercialization. bitBiome CEO Yuji Suzuki stated, 'The funds raised will be used to expand our data and AI model infrastructure, which is the source of our competitive advantage, and to accelerate product development for the social implementation of bio-manufacturing products.' UPSIDER Capital is one of Japan's largest independent venture debt funds with a cumulative total of 24.3 billion yen under management, supporting startup growth through rapid screening and large-scale financing.