See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Crowd Cast, a startup offering expense balancing apps such as BizNote for Yayoi Online and Staple, announced earlier this month that they have secured series B round funding from Saison Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Japanese leading credit card company Credit Saison (TSE:8253), and IMJ Investment Partners (henceforth IMJ-IP). While the particulars of this investment have yet to be made clear, funding is thought to reach into the tens of millions of yen (hundreds of thousands of dollars). As the series B round has not yet closed, Crowd Cast will continue inviting further investment from other companies, eventually looking to raise funding in the ballpark of about 1 million yen ($830,000). Crowd Cast also secured an undisclosed amount of series A round funding from IMJ-IP in 2014. As for their investments from business firms thus far, this round’s investment from Saison Ventures comes after a $210,000 seed round contribution in May of 2013 from major Japanese accounting software developer Yayoi. Crowd Cast began providing their expense balancing app for startups and mid-sized companies, Staple, in September of last year, but with this financial partnering with Saison Ventures, they are focusing on…
Tokyo-based Crowd Cast, a startup offering expense balancing apps such as BizNote for Yayoi Online and Staple, announced earlier this month that they have secured series B round funding from Saison Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Japanese leading credit card company Credit Saison (TSE:8253), and IMJ Investment Partners (henceforth IMJ-IP). While the particulars of this investment have yet to be made clear, funding is thought to reach into the tens of millions of yen (hundreds of thousands of dollars). As the series B round has not yet closed, Crowd Cast will continue inviting further investment from other companies, eventually looking to raise funding in the ballpark of about 1 million yen ($830,000).
Crowd Cast also secured an undisclosed amount of series A round funding from IMJ-IP in 2014. As for their investments from business firms thus far, this round’s investment from Saison Ventures comes after a $210,000 seed round contribution in May of 2013 from major Japanese accounting software developer Yayoi.
Crowd Cast began providing their expense balancing app for startups and mid-sized companies, Staple, in September of last year, but with this financial partnering with Saison Ventures, they are focusing on expanding Staple’s features and increasing users in cooperation with Credit Saison and their 35 million registered credit card user base. Concretely speaking, the methods of inputting expenses into Staple have been either manual input from receipts and invoices, etc., or by importing IC card use history data. In the future, however, it is expected that we will see functionality for connecting to online credit card use history data for Saison credit card users.
Crowd Cast CEO Takashi Hoshikawa spoke to The Bridge about this recent investment:
CEO Takashi Hoshikawa
This year we did IC smart card use history reading through NFC (near field communication), so next we want to implement an OCR (optical character recognition) feature for importing receipts. We’ll be expanding our features in the direction of the Electronic Books Maintenance Act of Japan. Also we’re looking to strengthen our back-end infrastructure as well as integration with credit card systems.
He continued:
With our corporate-aimed Staple Team, we’ve come to see the types of industries where our service will be made particularly necessary: advertising firms, real estate companies, and other industries with large numbers of employees. Especially in companies with many locations and large numbers of staff who aren’t supplied with computers for work, (expenses can be balanced using smartphones so) Staple Team is going to be an invaluable tool.
According to Hoshikawa, Crowd Cast has currently placed Staple Team in the research phase while they gather more information about the users’ needs, after which they will be proceeding with monetization. Moving into 2016, as many accounting type services will be boasting support for Japan’s new “my number” system, Crowd Cast says they aren’t particularly concerned with “my number” support. One reason for that might be that, rather than aiming to be a total accounting service, Crowd Cast are concentrating the focus of their solutions on expense balancing. In addition, they are currently considering the possibility of integrating their services with third party payroll management platforms.
Crowd Cast’s app designed for private-use, Staple, is free to use, but their commercial version built for team-based management, Staple Team, starts at 600 yen (about $5) a month. They have, however, began offering a “startup program” which makes Staple Team available to use for free for companies that are less than five years old, student entrepreneurs, as well as NPOs, so for startups in the early stages who don’t yet have a dedicated staff member handling accounting, this might be a good opportunity to try Staple Team.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Liquid, a Japanese startup developing payment solutions leveraging a unique biometric authentication technology, announced on 25 December that it has fundraised from Itochu (TSE:8001), Information Services International-Dentsu (ISID, TSE: 4812), Credit Saison (TSE:8253), and The University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC). Financial details of the investment have not been disclosed. Prior to the latest funding, Liquid received government grants of about 42 million yen ($350,000) in 2014 and about 50 million yen ($416,000) in 2015 based on the qualification to the I-Challenge innovation initiative program by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, followed by receiving an undisclosed sum of investment from UTEC. In addition, the company disclosed that their shareholders include Japan’s major telco conglomerate NTT Group and Internet service giant Digital Garage (TSE:4819) while they have not disclosed when these companies joined as shareholders. Liquid was born out of the third incubation batch by Docomo Ventures. The company has developed a biometric payment system called Liquid Pay, which uses fingerprints to authenticate users. Traditionally, the fingerprint authentication used the 1:1 verification method that took time to identify the input fingerprint from a large number of registered fingerprint patterns. But this…
Prior to the latest funding, Liquid received government grants of about 42 million yen ($350,000) in 2014 and about 50 million yen ($416,000) in 2015 based on the qualification to the I-Challenge innovation initiative program by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, followed by receiving an undisclosed sum of investment from UTEC. In addition, the company disclosed that their shareholders include Japan’s major telco conglomerate NTT Group and Internet service giant Digital Garage (TSE:4819) while they have not disclosed when these companies joined as shareholders.
Liquid was born out of the third incubation batch by Docomo Ventures. The company has developed a biometric payment system called Liquid Pay, which uses fingerprints to authenticate users. Traditionally, the fingerprint authentication used the 1:1 verification method that took time to identify the input fingerprint from a large number of registered fingerprint patterns. But this company has employed a 1:N identification method using deep learning algorithms. With this method, it only takes a few seconds to identify the input fingerprint. Once users are enrolled in this system, they can purchase with their fingerprints, allowing them to go out without cash or credit cards. By registering the fingerprints from two fingers, the risk of misidentifying the fingerprint is reduced to 1 in one hundred million.
This system is used at Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park in Nagasaki, Japan, where visitors can pay at restaurants and make purchases at souvenir shops without having to bring their wallet, giving them a sense of freedom. It has also been implemented at a hotel in Sri Lanka where hotel guests enroll their biometric information at check-in. After that, they can then unlock the key and make purchases at partnered stores using just their fingerprints. Based on the Liquid Pay technology, the company rolled out a trial of a community currency system in Hokkaido in association with ISID, aiming to offer foreign visitors a more convenient payment option at travel destinations.
Based on the partnership with new shareholders on this funding, Liquid plans to focus on developing services for an increasing number of inbound visitors to Japan toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, expanding to the medical and public sectors, as well as regional service expansion to the Southeast Asian market. Having a dazzling selection of companies with expertise in global expansion, system development, finance, and payments infrastructure as shareholders, the partnership will give a boost to an expanding Liquid Pay and other applications based on the company’s biometric authentication technology.
Japan’s Nikkei reported today that Japan’s third largest credit card issuing company Credit Saison (TSE:8253) will invest in San Francisco-based Coin, the Y Combinator-backed startup that has been developing a technology rolling up to eight conventional magnetic stripe credit cards into a single digital card. Details of the investment has not been disclosed but it is understood Coin will raise several million dollars from Credit Saison. This will be the first investment for a Japanese credit card company to invest in startup in the US. The article says that Coin is looking to expand to Japan in one to two years and aims to expand to other Asian countries with support from the credit card company. Credit Saison has invested in several Japanese startups developing fintech services, such as mobile payments processing company Coiney, consumer rewards startup Kanmu, and personal accounting startup Money Forward.
Japan’s Nikkei reported today that Japan’s third largest credit card issuing company Credit Saison (TSE:8253) will invest in San Francisco-based Coin, the Y Combinator-backed startup that has been developing a technology rolling up to eight conventional magnetic stripe credit cards into a single digital card. Details of the investment has not been disclosed but it is understood Coin will raise several million dollars from Credit Saison. This will be the first investment for a Japanese credit card company to invest in startup in the US.
The article says that Coin is looking to expand to Japan in one to two years and aims to expand to other Asian countries with support from the credit card company.
Credit Saison has invested in several Japanese startups developing fintech services, such as mobile payments processing company Coiney, consumer rewards startup Kanmu, and personal accounting startup Money Forward.
The folks over at Tokyo-based startup community Creww.me have announced an interesting new addition to their marketplace, with a new credit card offering in cooperation with Credit Saison. A representative explains: Startups often don’t have enough credit to obtain corporate credit cards. So this card was created for startups to be more flexible in this regard. Startups often pay for things like ads or server costs using their personal credits cards, since payment for such services are often by credit card only. So it’s a problem all startups have. We think this credit card should solve this problem.
The folks over at Tokyo-based startup community Creww.me have announced an interesting new addition to their marketplace, with a new credit card offering in cooperation with Credit Saison. A representative explains:
Startups often don’t have enough credit to obtain corporate credit cards. So this card was created for startups to be more flexible in this regard. Startups often pay for things like ads or server costs using their personal credits cards, since payment for such services are often by credit card only. So it’s a problem all startups have. We think this credit card should solve this problem.
See also the story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Coiney, a startup focused on providing mobile payments solutions in Japan, announced today that it has raised 500 million yen (over $5 million) from Credit Saison, one of Japanese top credit card companies. I believe the service is definitely making its way into consumers’ daily lives. Coiney was launched back in March of 2012 and has been providing mobile payments solutions using swipe card readers for smartphones. This, of course, puts them in the same space as Square, Paypal Here, and Rakuten Smartpay. Earlier this year, the startup also invited ex-CyberAgent COO Shinichi Saijo to its board of directors, a significant addition to its growing family. We had a chance to speak with the startup’s CEO Naoko Samata and asked her about how they plan to expand their business. Since our last conversation, the company has been focusing on user-safety systems and stability in rather than business expansion. We asked Naoko how they expect to compete against other big other players. She explained: If you see mobile payments as a disruption to the cash market, the potential is huge. I think every single player will evolve the market in different ways. Of course,…
From the left: Takamasa Matsumoto (software designer), Naoko Samata (CEO/founder), and David Asikin (CTO)
Tokyo-based Coiney, a startup focused on providing mobile payments solutions in Japan, announced today that it has raised 500 million yen (over $5 million) from Credit Saison, one of Japanese top credit card companies.
I believe the service is definitely making its way into consumers’ daily lives.
Coiney was launched back in March of 2012 and has been providing mobile payments solutions using swipe card readers for smartphones. This, of course, puts them in the same space as Square, Paypal Here, and Rakuten Smartpay.
Earlier this year, the startup also invited ex-CyberAgent COO Shinichi Saijo to its board of directors, a significant addition to its growing family.
We had a chance to speak with the startup’s CEO Naoko Samata and asked her about how they plan to expand their business. Since our last conversation, the company has been focusing on user-safety systems and stability in rather than business expansion. We asked Naoko how they expect to compete against other big other players. She explained:
If you see mobile payments as a disruption to the cash market, the potential is huge. I think every single player will evolve the market in different ways. Of course, this business needs a certain amount of a solid financial muscle. For us, it is very important to partner with other companies leveraging our business. By joining forces with appropriate partners, we will be able to reach out to more merchants who typically use our service on a daily basis.
According to Samata, more than a few consumers use mobile payments to buy high-value products or services in Japan, which is definitely different from what we’ve being seeing in the US. She shared some of their use cases and insights.
A big volume of our users are in their 40s, and 80% of them are male users. In terms of geographical metrics, it’s about a 50/50 split between urban and rural areas, which goes against our original hypothesis that Tokyoites in their 30s would be most of our user base. The average price per transaction using the service exceeds 10,000 yen ($100), which is certainly higher than the average credit card payments. […] Our customers (merchants) include outdoor tour guides, street-side butchers, flower shops, and souvenir shops. I believe the service is definitely making its way into consumers’ daily lives.
For Coiney, this may be how they differ most from their competitors. The startup aims to be a platform for solutions around money issues rather than just a payment solutions provider. As a part of their efforts on this front, the company plans to provide its payment services APIs to partnering developers. It might be very similar to what we’ve seen around API-based payment processing services such as Stripe, Braintree, and WebPay. Naoko added:
By the end of September, we’re expecting to announce our partners who will be using the closed alpha version of our SDKs. Subsequently we’ll start providing it to partner developers. We’re ready to provide SDKs for both the iOS and Android platforms. Unlike Stripes or Braintree, what we provide is payment solutions for face-to-face purchases. That’s the focus of our business.
With these new funds, the startup expects to double its engineering and business development forces, which is currently a 15-person team. It also expects to enhance its back-end infrastructure and add new models to its card reader line up.
Let’s keep an eye on Coiney to see how it progresses from here.
See the original story in Japanese. Some of our readers may recall that we featured Kanmu in our previous article about finance apps. It’s a Tokyo-based startup that provides card-linked offers (CLO), a new marketing/loyalty technique for brands and merchants. Kanmu announced on Monday that it would launch the first CLO service in Japan in partnership with Credit Saison, one of the country’s largest credit card issuers/acquirers. The startup has raised about 43 million yen (about $440,000) from East Ventures, Anri, and other Japanese investors. CLO has been implemented by major credit card companies in the US since early 2010. It connects offers or discounts directly to a consumer’s credit or debit card, which can then be redeemed at the point of sale. How does it work? Credit card holders receive online discount coupons on the dashboard showing your credit card balance. The type of virtual coupons you see will be decided according to what you have bought in the past, by drawing from your purchase history. If you’re interested in using one of these coupons, you simply need to click the banner. Subsequently, when you visit a retailer and use a credit card registered with the program, you will…
Some of our readers may recall that we featured Kanmu in our previous article about finance apps. It’s a Tokyo-based startup that provides card-linked offers (CLO), a new marketing/loyalty technique for brands and merchants.
Kanmu announced on Monday that it would launch the first CLO service in Japan in partnership with Credit Saison, one of the country’s largest credit card issuers/acquirers. The startup has raised about 43 million yen (about $440,000) from East Ventures, Anri, and other Japanese investors.
CLO has been implemented by major credit card companies in the US since early 2010. It connects offers or discounts directly to a consumer’s credit or debit card, which can then be redeemed at the point of sale.
How does it work?
Credit card holders receive online discount coupons on the dashboard showing your credit card balance. The type of virtual coupons you see will be decided according to what you have bought in the past, by drawing from your purchase history. If you’re interested in using one of these coupons, you simply need to click the banner.
Subsequently, when you visit a retailer and use a credit card registered with the program, you will receive rewards automatically, such as cash-back. For users of partner company Credit Saison, you will be able to earn reward points via the CLO program.
For retailers, you can better target customers and need not worry about any elaborate setup to deploy the program. Retailers will be charged based on a performance-basis, so it’s much easier for them to begin using the program for as part of their marketing efforts.
But what about security? Kanmu’s CEO Wataru Yamaki addressed that point:
Our users’ personal information stays with credit card companies, which guarantees your information is as secure as it was before. We’re also currently working on getting certification for information security as well. […] What we do is managing which user has clicked on which coupon. So personal information never leaves the credit card company. Using this type of purchase analysis, card companies have been sending direct mail to their customers. But now it becoming web-based. For retailers and card companies, it lets you to see how aggressively consumers react to each promotional activity, as soon as that activity is deployed.
Yamaki is a young entrepreneur in his 20s, and has so far been involved in many projects using distributed services and natural language processing. Prior to the launch of the CLO service, he has been exploring financial information services and managing a market cap ranking site called MarketGeek. With these new funds, he hopes to acquire more sales and analysis personnel.
Credit Saison 
Masaru Ikeda
Rick Martin
Takeshi Hirano
