Funds Startups Executes New Venture Debt Utilizing Phantom Stock for "Confidential AI" Company Acompany
Funds Startups Co., Ltd. provided venture debt to Acompany Co., Ltd., a deep tech startup specializing in "Confidential AI" and Confidential Computing technologies, utilizing a phantom stock scheme. This marks Funds Startups' first use of phantom stock, offering a flexible financing option that addresses Acompany's need to limit stock option dilution while allowing Funds Startups to secure future returns without equity issuance. Acompany, a spin-off from Nagoya University, develops products like "Acompany Secure Chat" and "Acompany Secure Code" and partners with major corporations including KDDI.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 14, 2026 at 18:04
- 🔍 Collected: April 14, 2026 at 09:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 14, 2026 at 09:43 (11 min after Collected)
Funds Startups Co., Ltd. announced the execution of venture debt through the Funds Venture Debt Fund No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership to Acompany Co., Ltd., a company engaged in product development and R&D in the "Confidential AI" domain. Acompany, a startup originating from Nagoya University, is a deep tech company providing products/technologies related to Confidential Computing and consulting services for confidential data utilization. Acompany addresses data security issues with a "Confidential AI" approach and has accumulated numerous use cases with major corporations, including a partnership with KDDI Corporation. This execution aims to support Acompany's challenge to build an infrastructure that balances "protection" and "offense" for secure data utilization. This is Funds Startups' first financing utilizing phantom stock, a scheme that allows investors to receive cash based on stock price appreciation without equity issuance, thus avoiding dilution for existing shareholders. Acompany, following a Series B round in May 2025, secured this venture debt. Funds Startups, established in December 2023 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Funds Co., Ltd., aims to develop mechanisms for startups to achieve ideal growth.