STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as STANDAGE) announced on November 27, 2018, that it has been selected for the Batch 2 Fintech program of the acceleration program implemented by Plug and Play Japan Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Vincent Philipp; hereinafter referred to as Plug and Play Japan), a world-class global venture capital/accelerator that supports startups with innovative technologies and ideas together with major corporations.

What is the acceleration program offered by Plug and Play Japan?
This is a three-month program (Batch) in collaboration with official Plug and Play Japan partner companies, focusing on four main themes: "IoT," "Fintech," "Insurtech," and "Mobility," to support domestic and international startups in becoming global-level startups.
Selected startups will have access to resources from multiple official partners and opportunities to collaborate with a wide range of large corporations through the program. Startups aiming for global expansion will also have access to mentoring from Plug and Play headquarters, opportunities to pitch in Silicon Valley, and access to global markets.

STANDAGE provides a trading platform service primarily for businesses using blockchain technology called "Shake Hands Contract" (SHC).
SHC enables credit and international money transfers by utilizing blockchain and smart contracts, bypassing banks and cash. This brings new trade opportunities to small and medium-sized enterprises and second-hand goods companies that previously had difficulty transacting with banks.
The technology is already complete, and we are in the final stages of preparing for the service launch. We will proceed with this project with the goal of quickly bringing a SHC service to the world that is "simple, convenient, and easy to use," even for those who are not familiar with blockchain.

■Plug and Play Japan's Corporate Partner
"Source: Plug and Play Japan Press Release (November 27, 2018)"

■Plug and Play Japan Co., Ltd.
http://japan.plugandplaytechcenter.com/
Plug and Play Japan was established in July 2017 as a base for expanding our business in Japan.
Plug and Play, headquartered at Plug and Play, is a world-leading global venture capital firm and accelerator that supports startups with innovative technologies and ideas in collaboration with large corporations. Since its founding in 2006, it has produced numerous unicorn companies, supported over 2,000 companies, and raised over $6 billion in total funding.
Last year, in 2017, we supported over 460 startups through our program, invested in 262 companies, and have 26 offices in 11 countries worldwide.

[Contact Information]
Shiba NA Building 4F, 3-6-10 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014
STANDAGE Co., Ltd.
President and CEO: Akinori Adachi
Executive Vice President/COO: Kenta Omori
Press Contact Email: info@standage.org