Japanese fintech firm Kyash has raised $41 million from investors, including Jack Dorsey’s Block.
Founded in December 2017, Kyash is a fast-growing fintech firm that focuses on enabling online payments using a QR code-based system. It is a revolutionary platform that can be used by both businesses and individuals alike to make payments quickly and securely.
Let’s dive deep into further information about Kyash and the recent funding.
Japanese Fintech Firm Kyash Raises $41 Million, Jack Dorsey’s Block Participates in Funding
Kyash is a Japanese Fintech firm that has made a name for itself by developing a digital payment app. The company enables users to send, receive, and trade digital currencies. Founded in 2013, Kyash has become one of the leading fintech firms in Japan and raised $41 million from investors including Jack Dorsey’s Block.
Kyash’s mission is to empower everyone to easily manage their finances. The team believes technology can enable access to banking products regardless of geographical location or user experience preferences. As such, Kyash has created an app-driven platform where users can make payments, check their balance information, transfer money between accounts and more.
Kyash provides various services to aid people in payment solutions, peer-to-peer lending solutions and foreign exchange solutions for Japanese citizens and travellers abroad. Using their app or website, customers can use Kyash Points as gateways for transactions using convenient payment methods such as AmazonPay, Alipay and Unionpay domestically and abroad in over 220 countries/territories.
Moreover, Kyash also offers an array of features about security – something that many other digital wallet services struggle with – including two-factor authentication (2FA) which helps keep user’s data secure by ensuring that all transactions and activities are verified by confirming two different identities known only to the account holder. Furthermore, customers can gain complete visibility over their activity logs so they know exactly where their money is coming and going from; providing them with anonymity yet total control over all incoming/outgoing monetary movements.
Overview of Jack Dorsey’s Block
Jack Dorsey’s Block is a venture capital firm founded in 2019 to democratise access to financial services and make payments easier for everyone. The firm operates the Square Cash App and Square Card and initiatives like Square Crypto, an effort to accelerate development in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Established by Twitter CEO and Square founder Jack Dorsey, Block Inc is solely devoted to blockchain-related investments. The VC seeks to support entrepreneurs leading projects that scale financial access, reduce costs and deliver customer choice.
Recent investments of Jack Dorsey’s Block include Japanese fintech firm Kyash, which raised $41 million from investors that included Jack Dorsey’s venture capital company, Block Inc., as well as existing investors Global Brain Corp., Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd., Impulse VC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Digital Ventures Co., Ltd (SMBC DV). This funding will help Kyash expand its operations in Japan and continue development on its payment system integration platform.
Details of the Investment
Japanese Fintech Firm Kyash has recently raised $41 million in a funding round led by global venture capital firm Global Brain, together with participation from Jack Dorsey’s Block. In addition, Japanese financial services giant SBI Group, the Development Bank of Japan, Movida, and several other investors were also part of the round.
This new investment brings Kyash’s total funding to $62 million.
Let’s look into the details of this investment.
Amount Raised
Japanese Fintech Firm Kyash has recently announced the successful conclusion of its Series B round of funding. A total of $41 million was raised from several investors, including Block.vc, FinVC, Salesforce Ventures and Mistletoe.
This new raise significantly boosts the total invested capital to over $67 million since the company’s establishment in 2016, with investors previously including venture capital firms 486 Capital, Atinum Investment and Frees Fund. Furthermore, payment giants PAYPAL and LINE Corp. have strategically supported Kyash for its projects before investing this round.
The amount raised in this round will be primarily used for Kyash’s continuing development as a fintech company. It will allow them to expand their services by introducing new products such as corporate payments and consumer credit services. In addition, this additional capital will be put towards growth strategies involving overseas expansion (including within emerging markets), technology innovation and customer acquisition.
Tokyo-based Kyash is a payment service provider for clients such as companies, manufacturers, retail shops aged 18 or above who can utilize their trusted financial tools within their systems through featuring many different payment systems such as QR code scanning-payment system that supports both cashless payments and rewards points across different businesses connected through Kyash alone. The firm is currently held an AISP license issued by Japanese Financial Services Agency in 2019 which allows them to store user accounts made through services including bank transfers (like Standard Settlement Interchange) on behalf of institutions that require centralising banking structure related data into one location without storing customer confidential or personal information onto their platform (a la sandbox regulation).
Investors Involved
The Japanese fintech firm Kyash raised $41 million in its latest round of funding led by SoftBank Ventures Asia. Along with SoftBank, the investors include venture capital firms Global Brain and OGB, existing investors SMBC Venture Capital and JAFCO. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s news-breaking outlet Block also participated in the funding.
Kyash is a mobile payment wallet that allows customers to make online and offline transactions. It also enables users to send payments via messages, meaning they don’t need any external app or service to transact. The company plans to use the fresh funding towards increasing its presence in financial services including insurance, digital currencies, and loans and hire new staff.
Launched in 2017, Kyash has grown into one of Japan’s most popular wallets providing access to digital payment services. The company provides services such as merchant payments, online payments through QR code scanning, travel transfers from Japan to India and remittances from overseas locations like the United States and South Korea.
Use of Funds
Japanese fintech firm Kyash has announced the completion of a $41 million financing round from several investors, with Jack Dorsey’s Block holding a major stake. The new funds generated from this round of capital will be used to further develop Kyash’s digital payments platform and expand its reach domestically and globally.
Kyash, founded in 2017 and based in Tokyo, Japan offers a mobile payment platform to allow merchants to more conveniently accept card payments and simplify their payment process. It also provides customers with an easy-to-use payment app that is intuitive and secure.
With the new funding, Kyash plans to leverage its existing customer base while expanding further into the international markets. The company plans to use a portion of these newly raised funds to improve its products by developing features such as cashback and reward programs for customers using the app frequently. Additionally, more resources will increase customer engagement and enhance the overall user experience on their digital wallet app. Furthermore, some funds will go towards developing new partnerships with global companies which would help boost Kyash’s overall user base around the world.
This latest capital injection by international investors into Kyash’s digital payments platform indicates an optimistic outlook towards Japanese fintech services. With these resources now available, Kyash can solidify its position in the Japanese market and expand further across other countries with improved products, services and global partnerships.
Impact of the Investment
Japanese Fintech firm Kyash raised $41 million from investors, including Jack Dorsey’s Block. This investment has significant implications for Kyash and the wider fintech industry.
Let’s explore the effects of this investment and analyse its impact on Kyash and the industry at large.
Kyash’s Growth Potential
Japanese fintech firm Kyash has recently completed a funding round of $41 million, with participation from Jack Dorsey’s Block and other investors. The financing round will enable Kyash to continue its rapid growth in Japan with increased capital and resources while exploring potential expansion opportunities into other global markets.
Funds from the successful fundraising will be used to strengthen Kyash’s development platform and focus on customer service operations. In addition, this investment will also help the company to expand its digital payments network in Japan by deepening existing partnerships, forging new ones and developing dedicated tools for partner banks to maximise their value-added services for their customers.
Further, one of the long-term prospects for Kyash’s growth is their cryptographic asset solution, which provides increased security and flexibility when signing off transactions through digital signatures or certificates like KYC/AML compliance. Moreover, with the investment’s support Kyash can now look towards expanding into new international markets such as Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe and North America while also exploring potential collaboration opportunities in Central and South America.
Kyash’s recent success proves that despite the constraints posed by a challenging market environment during the pandemic, companies can still prove that innovative business models tailored to customer needs are sustainable investments over time. More companies like Kyash will likely seize this opportunity over time as more people increasingly switch to digital payments platforms due to convenience; setting an exemplary model of resilient growth throughout 2021 and beyond.
Impact on the Japanese Fintech Market
The recent funding raised by Japanese Fintech firm Kyash is set to have a considerable impact on the Fintech industry in Japan. By receiving investments of up to $41 million from prominent investors including Jack Dorsey’s Block, Kyash aims to accelerate its growth in the country’s financial technology sector.
This influx of capital will allow Kyash to expand its services and products in the Japanese market, enabling it to move further into foreign markets. Furthermore, the injection of funds is a positive sign for many Fintech companies already in operation, as it suggests strong faith from prominent investors and confirms the bright future for Japan’s Fintech industry.
Kyash’s fresh funding will likely be used for further expansion within and outside Japan. This could mean developing more sophisticated technologies like open banking or leveraging data intelligence technology through cloud computing or machine learning — all areas in which Kyash has started to make advancements, helped with their latest round of funding. Investments such as these help foster a business-friendly environment that ultimately seeks to contribute significantly towards innovation and productivity across the entire Japanese economy — an area with immense potential but untapped due to lack of investment and resources.
Impact on Jack Dorsey’s Block
Japanese fintech firm Kyash has raised $41 million in a Series B funding round, with significant participation from Jack Dorsey’s venture investment firm Block.
The funding is set to be used towards the development of a groundbreaking platform which enables customers to store multiple forms of payment, create virtual bank accounts and receive rewards for making payments using Kyash. Block invested $4 million from this total investment through its Japanese fintech-focused fund GalaTech R & D Fund No. 2.
This foray into the Japanese market marks a major step forward for Dorsey’s venture capital initiative as it looks to expand its portfolio and impact financial technology development worldwide. It also serves as great potential exposure for Kyash’s platform in the US; since Dorsey heads both Block and leading social media giant Twitter, not to mention successful mobile payment service Square which he also co-founded.
The involvement of Block is likely to significantly accelerate Kyash’s growth trajectory and could help it become Japan’s go-to financial technology provider. In addition, given the impressive capabilities that Kyash already possesses, there is potential for further cross-border collaborations among investors in the future – something that could be incredibly beneficial for all parties involved in this round and Jack Dorsey’s many ventures.
