Global Brain has invested in Ocean Inc., a company providing a tax refund platform and inbound marketing solutions for foreign visitors to Japan

Global Brain has invested in Ocean Inc. (Ocean), a company operating Ocean Tax Refund, a next-generation refund-based tax exemption platform, through its KURONEKO Innovation Fund II (KIF II).

Japan's inbound consumption has continued to expand as the number of foreign visitors grows. In November 2026, Japan's consumption tax exemption system is set to undergo a nationwide transition from the conventional purchase-time exemption to a refund-based model, where goods are sold at full price and tax is refunded to travelers upon departure. This regulatory shift requires tax-free retailers across the country to establish new systems and operational frameworks to comply with the new rules.

Seizing the opportunity of this large-scale system transition, Ocean is rolling out a tax-free platform compliant with the new rules and set to provide highly convenient solutions from optimizing retailers' refund operations to providing multilingual support and various payment methods to foreign visitors. With growing brand awareness, Ocean also aims to expand into an inbound marketing platform powered by purchase data.

Global Brain has decided to invest in Ocean, recognizing the management team's strong understanding of the market, Ocean's solution that captures the timing of Japan's tax exemption reform, and the high scalability of its platform in the growing inbound market. Through this investment, Global Brain will actively support Ocean's business growth while exploring opportunities for knowledge sharing and synergy with YAMATO HOLDINGS CO., LTD. in the inbound domain.

Venture capitalists in charge: Joy Liang / Tasuke Nakagawa