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Japan’s Money Forward acquires SaaS comparison startup Smartcamp for $18M

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Money Forward (TSE:3994), the Japanese company providing cloud-based accounting solutions, announced on Monday that it will take a 72.3% stake in Smartcamp, the Japanese startup behind the Boxil SaaS comparison site and the Bales inside sales support service, for about 2 billion yen, or $18.3 million US. Smartcamp eventually made an exit by joining the Money Forward group. Founded back in June of 2014, Smartcamp launched Boxil back in May of 2015 by pivoting from their previous Sket service through participating twice in Incubate Camp, an annual 2-day bootcamp program by Incubate Fund offering budding entrepreneurs with mentoring opportunities. As of October, the company boasted 1 million monthly page views and more than 120,000 registered users with bringing over 30,000 potential users to SaaS providers. Smartcamp launched a service called Bales back in September of 2017, which allows SaaS providers to outsource their sales operations to the startup. In August, they launched another new service called Biscuit, a cloud-based customer relationship management tool for inside sales. Through these services, the company has successfully been offering marketing channels for over 100 third parties. Meanwhile, Money Forward has been acquiring approximately a startup an year…

Money Forward President & CEO Yosuke Tsuji (right), Smartcamp CEO Satoshi Furuhashi (left)
Image credit: Money Forward

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Money Forward (TSE:3994), the Japanese company providing cloud-based accounting solutions, announced on Monday that it will take a 72.3% stake in Smartcamp, the Japanese startup behind the Boxil SaaS comparison site and the Bales inside sales support service, for about 2 billion yen, or $18.3 million US. Smartcamp eventually made an exit by joining the Money Forward group.

Founded back in June of 2014, Smartcamp launched Boxil back in May of 2015 by pivoting from their previous Sket service through participating twice in Incubate Camp, an annual 2-day bootcamp program by Incubate Fund offering budding entrepreneurs with mentoring opportunities. As of October, the company boasted 1 million monthly page views and more than 120,000 registered users with bringing over 30,000 potential users to SaaS providers.

Smartcamp launched a service called Bales back in September of 2017, which allows SaaS providers to outsource their sales operations to the startup. In August, they launched another new service called Biscuit, a cloud-based customer relationship management tool for inside sales. Through these services, the company has successfully been offering marketing channels for over 100 third parties.

Meanwhile, Money Forward has been acquiring approximately a startup an year to expand their business, including acquiring Klavis, the Japan-/Singapore-based startup behind accounting and book-keeping software Streamed, as well as knowledgelabo, the Osaka-based startup behind cloud-based business management analytics tool Manageboard.

With the acquisition, Money Forward can boost customer acquisition effort for their product series leveraging Smartcamp’s marketing intelligence while Smarcamp aims to attract more users for their products leveraging Money Forward’s vast network and customer base.

Accounting SaaS provider Money Forward foraying into blockchain and crypto business

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Money Forward (TSE:3994), the Japanese company providing SaaS (software as a service)-based accounting solutions, announced last week that it is launching a new division called MF Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Lab with the aim to develop new services leveraging such emerging technologies. The new project will be led by Money Forward’s CTO Takuya Nakade in addition to Junichi Kanda, Executive Director in charge of Business Development and External Affairs. Kanda was a former BOJ (Bank of Japan) and FSA (Financial Services Agency of Japan) official but joined the startup in September last year. The company says it intends to make a blockchain- and cryptocurrency-powered business the third business pillar for them following accounting SaaS platforms for individuals and companies. With curated members among their current employees and hiring new talents from outside the company, it aims to form a new 100-people division within three years. It’s not definite but is likely for the company to apply for a cryptocurrency service operator registration to FSA. There are a variety of blockchain- or cryptocurrency-powered applications. Given that remittance fee in Japan is higher than other countries, they will probably come up with a remittance service as…

L to R: Takuya Nakade (CTO, Money Forward), Junichi Kanda (Executive Director, Business Development and External Affairs)
Image credit: Money Forward

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Money Forward (TSE:3994), the Japanese company providing SaaS (software as a service)-based accounting solutions, announced last week that it is launching a new division called MF Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Lab with the aim to develop new services leveraging such emerging technologies. The new project will be led by Money Forward’s CTO Takuya Nakade in addition to Junichi Kanda, Executive Director in charge of Business Development and External Affairs. Kanda was a former BOJ (Bank of Japan) and FSA (Financial Services Agency of Japan) official but joined the startup in September last year.

The company says it intends to make a blockchain- and cryptocurrency-powered business the third business pillar for them following accounting SaaS platforms for individuals and companies. With curated members among their current employees and hiring new talents from outside the company, it aims to form a new 100-people division within three years. It’s not definite but is likely for the company to apply for a cryptocurrency service operator registration to FSA.

There are a variety of blockchain- or cryptocurrency-powered applications. Given that remittance fee in Japan is higher than other countries, they will probably come up with a remittance service as a targeted one leveraging these technologies. Since the Japanese conventional remittance system has a cost problem and challenges to innovate its mechanism, a possible decentralized version would bring us significant benefits.

The possible blockchain-based remittance service would have high convenience and affinity with the company’s existing businesses which are mainly focused on helping users improve cashflow. Expected use case includes fee-free or low-free remittance service accompanying an automated erasure function upon money reception.

Money Forward has been aggressively pursuing new business after their IPO in August of 2017. The company launched a mobile piggybank app called Shiratama last September, followed by acquiring Klavis, the Japan-/Singapore-based startup behind accounting and book-keeping software Streamed. Also, the company founded a subsidiary called MF Kessai last June, aiming to launch a B2B postpay settlement service.

Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Money Forward, Japan’s SaaS accounting startup, files for IPO

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Tokyo-based Money Forward, Japan’s leading SaaS (software as a service) accounting startup, announced today that its IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on 29 September with plans to offer 1,617,700 shares for public subscription and to sell up to 382,300 shares in over-allotment options, for a total of 931,000 shares. SMBC Nikko Securities will lead the underwriting. Led by the company’s CEO Yosuke Tsuji (19.95%), its major shareholders include Jafco (TSE:8595, 14.90%), board member Chihiro Asano (9.47%), CISO Takashi Ichikawa (6.60%), Monex Ventures (4.78%), Credit Saison (TSE:8253, 4.11%), and the company board member Toshio Taki (3.36%). According to the consolidated statement as of November 2016, they posted a revenue of 1.54 billion yen (about 14 million) with an ordinary loss of 882.6 million yen ($8 million) and a net loss of 890 million yen ($8.1 million). Money Forward was founded in May of 2012 under its previous name of Money Book. Since December of 2012, the company has been providing online personal accounting for individuals called Money Forward, allowing them to easily manage their daily expenses by integrating their bank passbook and credit purchase history…

Image credit: Takeshi Hirano

Tokyo-based Money Forward, Japan’s leading SaaS (software as a service) accounting startup, announced today that its IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on 29 September with plans to offer 1,617,700 shares for public subscription and to sell up to 382,300 shares in over-allotment options, for a total of 931,000 shares. SMBC Nikko Securities will lead the underwriting.

Led by the company’s CEO Yosuke Tsuji (19.95%), its major shareholders include Jafco (TSE:8595, 14.90%), board member Chihiro Asano (9.47%), CISO Takashi Ichikawa (6.60%), Monex Ventures (4.78%), Credit Saison (TSE:8253, 4.11%), and the company board member Toshio Taki (3.36%).

Yosuke Tsuji, founder / CEO of Money Forward
Image credit: Takeshi Hirano

According to the consolidated statement as of November 2016, they posted a revenue of 1.54 billion yen (about 14 million) with an ordinary loss of 882.6 million yen ($8 million) and a net loss of 890 million yen ($8.1 million).

Money Forward was founded in May of 2012 under its previous name of Money Book. Since December of 2012, the company has been providing online personal accounting for individuals called Money Forward, allowing them to easily manage their daily expenses by integrating their bank passbook and credit purchase history with information obtained from their web bank and credit accounts. The service is also available for desktop, as well as iOS and Android platforms.

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Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Screenshot of Money Forward for Business
Image credit: Money Forward

Japan’s accounting startup Money Forward forays into B2B deferred payments service

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Money Forward, the Japanese startup offering cloud-based asset and accounting management services, announced on Tuesday that it has newly established a subsidiary called MF Kessai focusing on deferred payments service for B2B (business-to-business) transactions. Adopting the know-how of data-driven approach that they have been cultivated in Money Forward, MF Kessai aims to shorten the time to collect account receivables and to minimize the credit risk. In the press conference, CEO of Money Forward Yosuke Tsuji explained the purpose of both the new subsidiary and the new service is to clear up worries about money in business management and to increase B2B transactions. In respect to personnel matters of MF Kessai, Naomichi Toyama who joined Money Forward in 2014 and has been involved in promotion of MF Cloud to accounting firms or small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) across Japan was appointed to CEO of the new firm. The office of MF Kessai will be established within the Finolab FinTech startup hub in Tokyo’s financial district of Otemachi, not in Tamachi where Money Forward is headquartered due to the difference of each business condition and the necessity to focus on the business field with a view to…

R to L: Yosuke Tsuji (CEO of Money Forward) and Naomichi Toyama (CEO of MF Kessai)

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Money Forward, the Japanese startup offering cloud-based asset and accounting management services, announced on Tuesday that it has newly established a subsidiary called MF Kessai focusing on deferred payments service for B2B (business-to-business) transactions. Adopting the know-how of data-driven approach that they have been cultivated in Money Forward, MF Kessai aims to shorten the time to collect account receivables and to minimize the credit risk. In the press conference, CEO of Money Forward Yosuke Tsuji explained the purpose of both the new subsidiary and the new service is to clear up worries about money in business management and to increase B2B transactions.

Tsuji introduces the team members of MF Kessai

In respect to personnel matters of MF Kessai, Naomichi Toyama who joined Money Forward in 2014 and has been involved in promotion of MF Cloud to accounting firms or small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) across Japan was appointed to CEO of the new firm. The office of MF Kessai will be established within the Finolab FinTech startup hub in Tokyo’s financial district of Otemachi, not in Tamachi where Money Forward is headquartered due to the difference of each business condition and the necessity to focus on the business field with a view to future growth, according to Tsuji.

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Toyama explained that five billing works arise when a seller sells any product or service to a buyer in an inter-enterprise trade: credit examination, billing information inputting, bill issuing / sending, depositing management, and payment urging. Among them, the new service MF Kessai automates the four works (90% of the entire billing works) except for billing information inputting by outsourcing on cloud and significantly reduces a burden of billing works which tend to concentrate on the beginning or the end of months.

As a recent business trend, implementation of cloud or direct sales can often be seen in every kind of business with the spread of internet. Since the implementation of cloud often causes a reduction of the sales per customer, sellers need to sell their products to more customers in order to secure the same sale as before. The direct sale forces pure retailers to engage in inexperienced works such as depositing management or credit examination even for customers who never be seen before. By performing billing works in these scenes for them, MF Kessai provides an environment where sellers can focus on their main work.

Among functions of MF Kessai, noteworthy points are the credit transfer as of completing billing data (early deposit) and the guarantee of account receivable collection. When a seller uses MF Kessai, it automatically performs a credit examination of a buyer. Although this process is not disclosed, transaction will be done in one minute at the shortest utilizing big data based on information obtained from external organizations and that Money Forward has accumulated. According to the results of the test operation, 98% of buyers has passed the examination so far.

After this, MF Kessai takes on the credit on behalf of the buyer and can pay to the seller as the seller completed the billing data in the shortest case. It is a similar service to the so-called factoring service, and the commission fee for MF Kessai will be set to about several present, according to Toyama. Since the charge system of MF Kessai has not been announced yet, it is not known at present whether this early deposit service will be provided for free as a default function or will be charged.

By shortening the time from billing to payment, it may generate various business merits; manufacturers will be released from necessity of the external dependence of funds required for stocking materials, or agricultural producers, whose business is basically promised on advance payment style, will get an opportunity to transact with unseen potential customers all over Japan. To provide this service, it is felt that MF Kessai needs a fixed fund. Tsuji commented on this matter giving an example of the firm’s financing service for enterprises MF Cloud Finance:

We are a tech company, so we will secure the fund through cooperating with external financial organizations, rather than depending on the balance sheet of MF Kessai.

Thus he implied the possibility of a fundraising from financial organizations. Since MF Kessai was established as a subsidiary independent of Money Forward, the possible cooperation scheme with financial organizations can be easily imagined whether it is equity-based, debt-based, or introduction of potential customers.

Kotaro Kurasaki (CEO of Rita Foods, running Kumamoto Basashi.com, an online marketplace for sashimi of horse meat) attended the press conference online and explained the merit of MF Kessai as a user.

The strength of MF Kessai must be the API (application programing interface); it greatly improves business efficiency with lots of information gathered by linking with users’ billing / account receivable management system or by linking with bank system. Although MF Kessai started its service that day, the API will be launched around this autumn so that its serious operation phase seems to start after that.

In the context of the credit / investment service for SMEs or proprietaries by data-driven approach, Japan’s CreditEngine had launched Lendy; in addition, a Japanese major account software developer Yayoi and ALT provided by d.a.t. plans to the service launch within this year as well.

Translated by Taijiro Takeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japanese personal accounting startup Money Forward raises $12.6 million

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This is the abridged version of our original article in Japanese. Tokyo-based Money Forward, the startup behind the personal accounting app of the same name, announced today that it has raised 1.5 billion yen (about $12.6 million) from Japanese investment company Jafco, credit card company Credit Saison, packaged software developer Source Next, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Dentsu Digital Holdings, and GMO Venture Partners. Details of the investment have not been disclosed. This follows their previous round fundraising $5 million from Jafco last year. Money Forward provides online personal accounting for individuals, allowing them to easily manage their daily expenses by integrating with their bank passbooks and credit purchase history with information scraped from their web bank and credit accounts. The service is also available for desktop, as well as iOS and Android platforms. Coinciding with the funds, the company announced that it will launch a payroll service in March 2015. This will be the third line-up for them, following a cloud-based tax-return and accounting solution and a cloud-based invoicing platform.

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This is the abridged version of our original article in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Money Forward, the startup behind the personal accounting app of the same name, announced today that it has raised 1.5 billion yen (about $12.6 million) from Japanese investment company Jafco, credit card company Credit Saison, packaged software developer Source Next, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Dentsu Digital Holdings, and GMO Venture Partners. Details of the investment have not been disclosed. This follows their previous round fundraising $5 million from Jafco last year.

Money Forward provides online personal accounting for individuals, allowing them to easily manage their daily expenses by integrating with their bank passbooks and credit purchase history with information scraped from their web bank and credit accounts. The service is also available for desktop, as well as iOS and Android platforms.

Coinciding with the funds, the company announced that it will launch a payroll service in March 2015. This will be the third line-up for them, following a cloud-based tax-return and accounting solution and a cloud-based invoicing platform.

Japan’s Money Forward appoints former Gumi CTO as technical advisor to the board

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See the original story in Japanese. Yasuhiro Horiuchi, an evangelist at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Japan, recently stepped down; it has been said that many startups or companies have been keen to invite him into their boards. It was unveiled at an AWS user group event last night that he will join Japanese fintech startup Money Forward as a technical advisor. Horiuchi is also known as the former CTO of Japanese game developer Gumi. According to those in the know, he will not join them on a full-time basis. Yet his move is seen impacting future trends in careers of engineers in the Japanese startup scene, with fintech startups in particular gaining greater attention from now on. Born in 1978, Horiuchi joined teleconferencing solution company V-cube after graduating from Keio University. In 2005, he was involved in developing a video sharing site called Flipclip (shut down in 2012), then later joined Gumi and served as CTO.

yasuhiro-horiuchi
Yasuhiro Horiuchi

See the original story in Japanese.

Yasuhiro Horiuchi, an evangelist at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Japan, recently stepped down; it has been said that many startups or companies have been keen to invite him into their boards. It was unveiled at an AWS user group event last night that he will join Japanese fintech startup Money Forward as a technical advisor. Horiuchi is also known as the former CTO of Japanese game developer Gumi.

According to those in the know, he will not join them on a full-time basis. Yet his move is seen impacting future trends in careers of engineers in the Japanese startup scene, with fintech startups in particular gaining greater attention from now on.

Born in 1978, Horiuchi joined teleconferencing solution company V-cube after graduating from Keio University. In 2005, he was involved in developing a video sharing site called Flipclip (shut down in 2012), then later joined Gumi and served as CTO.

Japanese cloud accounting platform Money Forward partners with payments startup Coiney

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See the original story in Japanese. Following the AirRegi-Freee partnership we just reported this morning, Tokyo-based Money Forward, another cloud-based accounting platform, has just announced a partnership with mobile payments service Coiney. For retailers, the partnership between these two companies will enable them to avoid entering invoices to Money Forward for any sale paid using Coiney, thanks to an automated data transfer made possible by their new integration. Money Forward will be integrated with 1,420 third-party services (such as online banking services, online brokerages, or reward point management systems) through this partnership. Money Forward has already integrated with many other Japanese startups like Base (e-commerce platform), Crowdworks (a crowdsourced jobs platform), and S-cubisum (tablet-based point-of-sales solution) back in February. According to Money Forward, they’re also in talks with several other companies about possible partnerships. So it will be interesting to see if we have more news coming from them in the near future..

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See the original story in Japanese.

Following the AirRegi-Freee partnership we just reported this morning, Tokyo-based Money Forward, another cloud-based accounting platform, has just announced a partnership with mobile payments service Coiney.

For retailers, the partnership between these two companies will enable them to avoid entering invoices to Money Forward for any sale paid using Coiney, thanks to an automated data transfer made possible by their new integration. Money Forward will be integrated with 1,420 third-party services (such as online banking services, online brokerages, or reward point management systems) through this partnership.

Money Forward has already integrated with many other Japanese startups like Base (e-commerce platform), Crowdworks (a crowdsourced jobs platform), and S-cubisum (tablet-based point-of-sales solution) back in February. According to Money Forward, they’re also in talks with several other companies about possible partnerships. So it will be interesting to see if we have more news coming from them in the near future..

Japanese personal accounting startup Money Forward launches enterprise version

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See the original article in Japanese There are more cloud tools than ever available to support small scale or personal businesses. In Japan such services include things like Evernote, Talknote, Github, and Qitta. But for many small businesses, there’s a bottleneck in areas like accounting, and it is inevitable that freelancers and small businesses must handle such work slowly and carefully. But Tokyo-based Money Forward, the startup behind the personal accounting app of the same name, has a solution that might work for them. On January 27th, Money Forward released its official version of “Money Forward Kakutei-shinkoku” (Kakutei-shinkoku is Japanese for “filing the final tax return”) and “Money Forward for Business”. The basic plan for “Money Forward Kakutei-shinkoku” for personal users is free, and with a paid plan at 800 yen ($8) per month for those who want to enter more than 15 items a month. “Money Forward for Business” is available for free for the first 45 days, and users who want to continue the service need to pay 1800 yen ($18) per month. A variety of features, including online communication with tax accountants, will be added later. One of the most remarkable features of the app is that…

キャプチャ_MF.001

See the original article in Japanese

There are more cloud tools than ever available to support small scale or personal businesses. In Japan such services include things like Evernote, Talknote, Github, and Qitta. But for many small businesses, there’s a bottleneck in areas like accounting, and it is inevitable that freelancers and small businesses must handle such work slowly and carefully. But Tokyo-based Money Forward, the startup behind the personal accounting app of the same name, has a solution that might work for them.

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On January 27th, Money Forward released its official version of “Money Forward Kakutei-shinkoku” (Kakutei-shinkoku is Japanese for “filing the final tax return”) and “Money Forward for Business”.

The basic plan for “Money Forward Kakutei-shinkoku” for personal users is free, and with a paid plan at 800 yen ($8) per month for those who want to enter more than 15 items a month. “Money Forward for Business” is available for free for the first 45 days, and users who want to continue the service need to pay 1800 yen ($18) per month.

A variety of features, including online communication with tax accountants, will be added later.

One of the most remarkable features of the app is that it can automatically acquire data from a bank account at over 1400 financial institutions. Based on past records, the app helps automatically add tags to entries. The goal is to dramatically improve the process of creating reports, including things like cash flow statements and financial statements.

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By automatization data entry and journalizing, the app makes your accounting work much more efficient.

CEO Yosuke Tsuji told us that his company plans to tie up with other services like iPad POS systems, and other departments that deal with employees’ salary and attendance, aiming to reduce manual work.

In Japan, more and more small e-commerce sites are emerging, through e-commerce platforms like Base and Stores.jp. It’s logical to assume that there will be more C2C transactions in the future. It is exciting to picture the whole accounting processes taken care of with cloud accounting apps.

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According to Tsuji, a few thousands of people have used the test version of the app. He says that around 12% of Money Forward users say that they would want to use Money Forward for Business too.

When I visited their new office recently, I found that the developer team had expanded to over 20 members. I asked Tsuji about the recruiting process and what kind of qualifications he is looking in new members.

We have six-person recruiting team. For engineers, we are often referred to a new engineer by engineers that we know. Good engineers tend to be connected with each other. We are looking for someone good at teamwork, with the right skills and an interest in our service.

The team has to figure out how to evolve the product based on user feedback. In order to establish its priorities, members need to share the company’s vision and values. Tsuji adds that it is very important to grow a positive culture within the company.

In order to be a sort of infrastructure in the future, Money Forward will be expected not only to provide good products at reasonable prices, but also to make contributions to public good through their service.

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Japanese personal accounting startup Money Forward raises $5 million

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Money Forward, the startup behind the personal accounting app of the same name, announced today that it has raised 500 million yen ($5 million) from Japanese investment company Jafco. Money Forward provides online personal accounting for individuals, allowing them to easily manage their daily expenses by integrating with their bank passbooks and credit purchase history with information scraped from their web bank and credit accounts. The service is also available for desktop, as well as iOS and Android platforms. The company also announced that it will launch a cloud-based accounting service for individual and corporate users, and it will also start publishing an online newsletter. The service launched back in December of 2012 in beta, and subsequently launched its official version back in July of 2013. The company’s CEO Yosuke Tsuji told us that their service has acquired over 100 million accounting records from users, up 43% on average in the last several months [1]. He explained: We launched an asset simulation tool called ‘Yoso-Q’ this past July, and it has been getting lots of attention from our users. Its daily active users are much higher than we expected. When we look at…

moneyforward_screenshot

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Money Forward, the startup behind the personal accounting app of the same name, announced today that it has raised 500 million yen ($5 million) from Japanese investment company Jafco.

Money Forward provides online personal accounting for individuals, allowing them to easily manage their daily expenses by integrating with their bank passbooks and credit purchase history with information scraped from their web bank and credit accounts. The service is also available for desktop, as well as iOS and Android platforms. The company also announced that it will launch a cloud-based accounting service for individual and corporate users, and it will also start publishing an online newsletter.

The service launched back in December of 2012 in beta, and subsequently launched its official version back in July of 2013. The company’s CEO Yosuke Tsuji told us that their service has acquired over 100 million accounting records from users, up 43% on average in the last several months [1]. He explained:

We launched an asset simulation tool called ‘Yoso-Q’ this past July, and it has been getting lots of attention from our users. Its daily active users are much higher than we expected. When we look at visiting frequency, almost 30% of our users who have registered their bank accounts on our service are using the simulation tool once every two days.

Their personalized credit card recommendation engine is especially popular among users. It proposes cards based on how much you pay on a monthly basis, or what kind of rewards you want to get. Their 60% of users are male, and 40% are female.

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CHART: The growth of expense data collected from Money Forward users

Simplifying income tax reporting

Cloud-based accounting is a fierce space here in Japan, where Tokyo-based startup Freee is doing well in its user acquisition. According to Tsuji, Money Forward will be also getting into this space, launching a tax reporting tool later next month. It will simplifies your tax reporting tasks by scraping expenses from your bank accounts and sorting out automatically.

So what is his overall goal for Money Forward? He explains:

Along with the account aggregation technology, we’ll be providing various services for users including asset management and simulation for individuals, and cloud-based accounting for SMEs. When you have money management troubles, you find the answer at Money Forward. That’s what we’re aiming to be.

With the funds raised this time around, the company plans to hire more engineers in an effort to be a leading one-stop solution provider.

The startup was spun-off from Tokyo online stock brokerage Monex in 2012. It raised 100 million yen (over $1 million) back in March from several angel investors and WIT Corporation, a technology licensing organization under Waseda University.


  1. Not to be confused with user growth, of course.