University of Tokyo Edge Capital backs fingerprint payment system creator Liquid to help it develop its product for possible use at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Liquid, a Japan-based payment system creator, has raised an undisclosed amount from a consortium including University of Tokyo Edge Capital, The Bridge has reported.
University of Tokyo Edge Capital is a seed and early-stage investor associated with Tokyo University. It was joined in the round by general trading company Itochu, software developer and consultancy Information Services International-Dentsu and financial services firm Credit Saison.
Liquid has developed a payment system that uses a customer’s fingerprints to authorise a transaction. Its technology uses machine learning to enable fast authentication and requires users to have two fingertips scanned in to minimise misidentification.
Liquid’s technology is already in use at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Japan and a hotel in Sri Lanka.
Liquid expects to partner its new shareholders to develop services aimed at tourists, particularly with a view of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, expand further across Southeast Asia and target the medical and public sectors.
Previously Liquid raised ¥50m ($426,000) in 2015 when the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication approved Liquid for its I-Challange program. In 2014, Liquid raised ¥42m.
The company has confirmed its stakeholders also include telecommunications company NTT and internet service firm Digital Garage, though it has not revealed when these corporates invested.
