Nomura’s ¥20 Billion Deep-Tech Fund Tests How Far Tokenized VC Can Go in Japan

By turning a B Dash Ventures fund into digital securities, Nomura is probing whether blockchain and HNWIs can unlock Japan’s ¥1,900 trillion in household assets for startups.

Nomura is launching a tokenized venture capital fund linked to B Dash Ventures, opening access to professional and high-net-worth investors (HNWIs) through digital security tokens. The vehicle, formally called the Nomura Private Series B Dash Fund 5 Tokenized VC Fund 202510, sits inside a wider ¥20 billion (about US$128 million) fund, of which ¥8 billion (US$51 million) will be issued as security tokens. 

The 10-year fund will focus on deep-tech startups and is being positioned as one of Japan’s largest blockchain-based VC products to date. It is also the first security token in Japan that invests in VC funds and the first to use the J-Ships Framework, a Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA) scheme that allows professional investors to participate in unlisted company investments. 

How the Tokenized VC Structure Works

The tokenized portion of the fund will be issued on “ibet for Fin”, a consortium blockchain platform developed by BOOSTRY, a Nomura- and Nomura Research Institute-backed company.

In simple terms:

• The underlying VC fund is a traditional B Dash Ventures vehicle investing in early- to growth-stage deep-tech startups.
• Instead of only using limited partnership interests, a portion of the fund is sliced into digital tokens that represent beneficial interests.
• These tokens are offered via a private placement to professional investors, including eligible HNWIs, under Japan’s existing securities rules.
  

Record-keeping and transfers of these interests are handled on ibet for Fin, which is designed to support compliant security token offerings rather than public crypto assets.

Tapping Japan’s Dormant Household Wealth

The timing of this move is not accidental. Japanese households hold roughly ¥1,900 trillion (about US$12.8 trillion) in financial assets, much of it sitting in cash and bank deposits rather than higher-risk investments. 

By structuring ¥8 billion of the fund as tokenized interests, Nomura and B Dash Ventures are testing whether:

• HNWIs (and in future, broader retail segments) are willing to allocate more to illiquid, high-growth assets like deep-tech VC, and
• Blockchain-based products can make private-market exposure more scalable and easier to distribute.

The remaining ¥12 billion will be funded by institutions, including SME Support Japan, which means the experiment is anchored by traditional capital while testing a new investor channel at the margin. 

If even a small portion of Japan’s household wealth starts flowing into structures like this, the domestic VC pool could grow significantly, narrowing the gap with the US and Europe.

Simplifying a Traditionally Messy VC Structure

Venture funds in Japan are commonly structured as limited liability partnerships, which are paperwork-heavy and administratively complex. Each investor typically faces bespoke contracts, manual processes, and limited visibility into the life cycle of their holdings.

Tokenizing beneficial interests aims to tackle several friction points at once:

• Electronic registration of holdings, instead of paper-based systems
• Automated transfer of rights, reducing back-office overhead
• Standardised tracking of ownership, making audits and reporting easier

Nomura says the scheme complies with Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and internal control standards, and it sits fully within the J-Ships regime for professional investors. In other words, this is not a crypto experiment outside the system — it is a regulated financial product that uses blockchain as infrastructure rather than as a selling point. 

What It Means for Deep-Tech Startups

On the deployment side, B Dash Ventures plans to invest around ¥500 million in each of 25–30 startups, with a focus on deep-tech themes such as advanced battery materials and university spin-offs. 

That strategy is important because:

• Deep-tech companies often need longer time horizons and patient capital, which typical retail-friendly funds avoid.
• Areas like materials science, hardware, and university research spin-outs can struggle to raise enough funding at early stages, especially in markets where equity culture is still developing.

A 10-year, ¥20 billion vehicle that explicitly targets this segment can help fill a structural funding gap and align with policymakers’ push to boost innovation in science- and technology-heavy fields.

A Test Case for Tokenized Private Markets

For Nomura, the tokenized B Dash fund is part of a larger strategy to grow its private-markets business alongside traditional equities and bonds. The group has already been expanding access to private assets; this fund adds a digital layer that could eventually be replicated across private equity, real estate or infrastructure products. 

If the structure proves: operationally smooth, compliant from a regulatory standpoint, and commercially attractive to professional investors, it may become a template for future security token offerings in Japan.

At the same time, this is still early-stage infrastructure. Liquidity for such tokens will remain limited, investor education is crucial, and the product is not yet open to mass retail. But it does signal how large institutions see tokenization: less about speculation, more about modernizing how private markets are run and accessed.

Why This Matters for Asia’s VC and Startup Ecosystem

For founders, LPs and emerging managers around the region — the Nomura–B Dash structure sends a few clear signals:

• Large, conservative institutions are now willing to use blockchain for core products, not just pilots.
• Tokenized structures can lower operational friction and potentially widen the pool of eligible investors in venture funds.
• Deep-tech startups in Japan may see more locally sourced, long-term capital, rather than relying mainly on corporate or foreign VC.

If the model works in Japan, other Asian markets with high savings rates and shallow private markets could explore similar frameworks, especially where regulators are keen to direct household wealth into innovation and productivity-enhancing sectors.

Quick Takeaways

• Nomura and B Dash Ventures are launching a ¥20B deep-tech VC fund, with ¥8B tokenized as security tokens for professional and HNWI investors.
• It is Japan’s first security token that invests in VC funds and the first to use the JSDA’s J-Ships framework for such exposure. 
• The fund runs on BOOSTRY’s ibet for Fin blockchain, targeting 25–30 deep-tech startups over 10 years. 
• Japan’s ¥1,900T (US$12.8T) household assets, mostly in cash and deposits, are a key backdrop — this fund tests whether tokenized VC can attract more of that money into startups.
• If successful, the structure could become a blueprint for tokenized private-market products across VC, PE, and other alternative asset classes in Japan and the wider region.