Global Brain has made an investment in Ocean. Ocean has outlined plans to develop a refund-based tax-free shopping platform and inbound marketing support business.
KIF2 Investment Limited Partnership, managed by Global Brain, made an investment in Ocean’s refund-based tax-free shopping platform, “Ocean Tax Refund,” and inbound marketing support business. Based in Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Ocean plans to improve operational efficiency and expand multilingual support in line with the revision of the tax-free shopping system.
The tax-free shopping system is expected to shift uniformly in November 2026 from tax exemption at the time of purchase to a refund system at the time of departure, and tax-free shops nationwide are expected to be required to develop systems compatible with the new system. Ocean has outlined a policy of using this transition to improve the efficiency of stores’ refund operations and strengthen guidance functions for international visitors to Japan. It is also considering expanding the platform in the future into an inbound marketing platform using purchase data.
Global Brain decided to make the investment after evaluating Ocean’s solution, which leverages its management team’s strong market knowledge and the timing of the tax-free shopping system revision, as well as the scalability of the inbound market. Going forward, it plans to support Ocean’s business growth while pursuing opportunities to share knowledge and create synergies with Yamato Holdings.