Business Expanding French fintech innovator, SESAMm, establishes a Japanese subsidiary in Tokyo

Founded in 2014, SESAMm is a French fintech company specializing in alternative data* and artificial intelligence, delivering data-driven investment analytics to global investment firms and corporations.

The company uses natural language processing and machine learning techniques to analyze over 20 billion web articles and forums in multiple languages. However, over three billion of those articles are in Japanese, underscoring the importance of the market for SESAMm. To help investors make data-driven decisions on market trends, the company’s system picks up on signs of market volatility and notifies them with messages to adjust their portfolios of financial assets. It can also be used to track environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors, analyze sentiment, generate investment signals, and formulate investment strategies.

Since 2020, Asset Management One, part of Mizuho Financial Group, has been working with SESAMm to create AI models to analyze financial reports and extract signals that can predict the outlook for each company's performance and M&A. In 2021, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance started collaborating with the company to develop an AI analytics model for alternative data. The model learns the relationship between investor sentiment and the stock and bond markets, and it can be used for risk aversion, such as when it detects a sharp drop in investors' risk tolerance.

In December 2021, SESAMm was selected in the Green Finance Subsidy Program for Tokyo Market Entry by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in recognition of its contribution to the expansion of the green finance market in Tokyo and beyond. Supported by the program, SESAMm Japan was established in Tokyo in February 2022. The company has already signed contracts with about 10 major Japanese companies, which use its technology for asset allocation, credit risk modeling, long/short equity strategies, trading models, and hedging. With Japan’s sophisticated financial systems, SESAMm strives to enable smarter and ethical investment decisions through innovation toward carbon neutrality and sustainable growth.