by Taku Uchimaru / Kosuke Uchida

Z Venture Capital (“ZVC”) has made a follow-on investment in Ocean Inc. (“Ocean”), the company behind Ocean Tax Refund, a next-generation tax refund platform, as part of its Series A financing. 

The investment comes approximately 10 months after ZVC first backed the company in its seed round in November 2025.

At the time of our initial investment, we viewed Japan’s planned transition to a refund-based tax-free shopping system in November 2026 as a major inflection point for the digitalization of inbound tourism spending. With the new system now just two months away, developments across both the market and Ocean have reinforced that view.

Many of you have likely noticed more international visitors in Japan's cities and tourist destinations than before. The numbers bear that out.

¹ Japan continues to see strong growth in inbound tourism. In the first half of 2026, the country welcomed 21.08 million international visitors, ² putting it on a similar pace to 2025, when annual arrivals surpassed 40 million for the first time. ³ In the April–June quarter alone, inbound tourism spending reached ¥2.51 trillion, or approximately ¥240,000 per visitor.

Against this backdrop, Japan will introduce a new refund-based tax-free shopping system nationwide this November. Under the current system, consumption tax is deducted at the point of sale. Under the new system, travelers will first pay the tax-inclusive price and receive a refund only after their departure from Japan and export of the purchased goods have been confirmed. This will require tax-free retailers across the country to redesign everything from checkout processes and refund operations to multilingual customer support.

When ZVC first invested in Ocean, its product was still at the concept stage. Over the past 10 months, that vision has become Ocean Tax Refund, a platform built specifically for the new regulatory framework. The company has expanded support for a wide range of refund methods, including bank transfers, credit cards, overseas QR-code payments, and PayPal, while also introducing a LINE Mini App-based experience for international visitors.

Ocean has already received applications from merchants across Japan, secured adoption by major retailers, and continued to build partnerships with inbound tourism companies, regional financial institutions, and other ecosystem players.

What we find particularly compelling is Ocean’s longer-term opportunity beyond tax refunds. Ocean Tax Refund gives the company a unique starting point to capture and structure purchasing data from inbound travelers.

By leveraging this data, Ocean can expand into areas such as customer acquisition, repeat-visit marketing, and other services for merchants targeting international visitors.

We believe this positions Ocean to become more than a tax refund provider. Over time, it has the potential to become a broader gateway connecting international travelers, merchants, and the growing inbound consumption ecosystem in Japan.

We have also been impressed by the team’s execution. Launching a product ahead of a major regulatory change while simultaneously securing implementation partners is not easy, yet the team has made significant progress in just 10 months. Ocean has also continued to attract strong talent and build out the organizational foundation needed for its next stage of growth.

As inbound tourism becomes an increasingly important part of Japan’s economy, ZVC looks forward to continuing to support Ocean as it builds new infrastructure for this growing market.

(References)
 ¹ Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), "Foreign Visitors to Japan (June 2026 Estimates)"
https://www.jnto.go.jp/news/press/20260715_monthly.html

² Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), "Foreign Visitors to Japan (December 2025 Estimates)"
https://www.jnto.go.jp/news/press/20260121_monthly.html

³ Japan Tourism Agency, "Consumption Trend Survey for Foreigners Visiting Japan," April–June 2026 results (first preliminary report)
https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/news02_00094.html