Ecrowd Inc. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Naohiko Hataya), which operates a platform for startup investment, is pleased to announce that Nudge Inc. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Takashi Okita; hereinafter referred to as "Nudge"), the provider of the next-generation credit card "Nudge," which is included in our "Ecrowd NEXT" individual stock fund for members only, has raised a total of ¥1.48 billion, bringing its cumulative funding to approximately ¥6.5 billion. *Members: Individuals and corporations registered as investors in Ecrowd NEXT are referred to as "members." This round consists of asset finance from Morgan Stanley, venture debt from Resona Bank, Ltd., and investments from existing and new shareholders. Ecrowd NEXT also participated in this round through its individual stock fund. Press Release from Nudge Inc. About Nudge Inc. Nudge was founded in 2020 with the mission to "Create the future of financial experience with everyone's actions." Leveraging its strength in the cloud-native credit card service platform "Nudge Platform," Nudge operates the next-generation credit card "Nudge" as one of Japan's few "certified comprehensive credit purchase brokers." Since its founding, Nudge has practiced "Work from anywhere," valuing an organizational culture that respects individual values while working to create the future of financial experience. Individual Investors Participate in Growing Companies Through Individual Stock Funds Investment in mid-to-late stage startups looking towards a future IPO has traditionally been the domain of institutional investors. Ecrowd NEXT opens up investment opportunities in carefully selected growth companies to individual investors in the form of individual stock funds. Members of Ecrowd NEXT who resonate with the new financial experience of incorporating "fan activities" and "social contribution" into payments and wish to support these challenges through investment participat