Japanese Fintech Firm Kyash Raises $41 Million, Jack Dorsey’s Block Participates in Funding

A Tokyo-based financial technology company called Kyash has raised $41.2 million in a Series D funding round which saw participation from the Block (formerly known as Square). The investment into the Japanese mobile financial app firm is the Block’s first investment in the Asia Pacific region, according to the announcement.

Fintech Firm Kyash Gets a Capital Raise Boost From the Block

According to a report by Nikkei, the financial technology (fintech) company Kyash has raised $41.2 million in a Series D financing round. Kyash was founded in 2015 and is a fintech platform that provides its users with a digital wallet and mobile banking services. The Nikkei Shinbun report notes that the funding round gives Kyash an approximate $107.7 million (12.8 billion JPY) in total funding.

While Jack Dorsey’s Block participated, the firms’ Japan Post Investment Corporation, Stepstone Group (formerly Greenspring Associates), JAFCO Group, Greyhound Capital, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital, Altos Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Yitu Capital, and SMBC Nikko Securities also joined in on the Kyash funding round. The president of Kyash explained that the Block was a “leader in financial innovation in the U.S. and other countries.” In the Nikkei Shinbun report, the managing director at Kyashi stated:

Kyash’s user-first, mobile-first philosophy and design is a key component of the global, irreversible trend toward unbundling traditional financial institutions and rebuilding them using technology.

According to the official press release, Kyashi explains the firm plans to increase product growth and the company’s number of employees. “Challenger banks are a core theme in fintech and the unbundling of traditional banking has become an irreversible trend globally,” the managing director of Japan Post Investment Corporation details in the press release.

The business firmly believes that “rebundling financial services with technology” will bolster the company’s growth. “[The Series D financing] will greatly contribute to strengthening the financial base for further accelerating business expansion in the future,” Kyashi’s announcement concludes. “With this funding, we will further expand the organization by hiring human resources, expand the business domain and strengthen the service operation system, and strive to contribute to the financial success of as many people as possible.”

What do you think about the Block participating in the Kyashi Series D financing round? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

via Jamie Redman