Announced a total of 15 billion yen in financing through joint lead investment by DST Global Partners and WiL, the No. 1 corporate card for growing companies | Press release of UPSIDER Co., Ltd.

With DST Global Partners and WiL as lead investors, existing and foreign investors Arena Holdings and Tybourne Capital Management are the main underwriters for third-party allotment. In addition, it is a strategic capital participation by Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Credit Saison (underwritten by Saison Ventures) of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a major domestic financial company.

Of the total amount of 15 billion yen, the amount raised by third-party allotment was approximately 5.4 billion yen, and as of the end of April, a capital increase of approximately 4.9 billion yen has been completed. It is expected to secure an additional loan facility of about 10 billion yen from major financial institutions in line with the final closing around the end of May. With this funding, the cumulative amount raised since the company was founded will be approximately 20 billion yen.

With the mission of “creating a society where people who take on challenges can play an active role,” we have financially supported the growth of the company by providing the corporate card “UPSIDER.” The funds raised through the capital increase will be invested in diversifying products, expanding recruitment, and expanding into overseas markets.

Series C Round Overview

■ Procurement amount: Approximately 15 billion yen (approximately 5.4 billion yen is a capital increase through third-party allotment, and approximately 10 billion yen is an additional loan facility)
■ List of underwriters in this third-party allotment (in no particular order, titles omitted):

・DST Global Partners: Investment record in Facebook, Spotify, Alibaba, Slack, etc.
・Arena Holdings: Investment record in SmartHR, CADDi, etc. in Japan
・Tybourne Capital Management: Investment record in Paidy, CADDi, etc. in Japan
・Mitsubishi UFJ Capital: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Venture Capital
・Saison Ventures: Credit Saison Venture Capital

・WiL

・ANRI

・Global Brain

We have been more than 10 times more than last year since the completion of Series B in October 2021.Achieved more than four times the sales growth in half a yearDid. In the global trend of “next generation of inter-company payments”Achieving a growth rate comparable to that of unicorn companies developing similar businesses in the United States and other countriesWhat we are doing, as a leading company in the Japanese marketProducts that are deeply rooted in Japan’s unique circumstances and needsThe background to the great attention of prominent overseas investors is the fact that they are developing the market, as well as their high customer satisfaction and usage continuity rate.

Until now, we have provided the corporate card “UPSIDER” to customers of growing companies to solve financial issues such as usage limits and accounting. In particular, the usage limit (prepayment / postpayment) of up to 100 million yen or more, the virtual card issuance / management function, and the SaaS function that helps speed up accounting processing are popular, and more than 1,000 active users continue to use it. The rate is over 99%.

・ Service page:https://up-sider.com/lp/

In addition, the number of customers of listed companies is increasing rapidly. As a background, with the release of card usage restrictions, authority setting functions, Slack linkage functions, etc., it has become possible to operate corporate cards more safely than ever before. For listed company customers where governance and accountability are important, this will lead to stricter company-wide spending management, simplified expense reimbursement operations, and faster accounting.

UPSIDER can flexibly limit the usage and amount of the card on the Web

In February 2022, we started offering “Payment.com”, a payment service that allows all inter-company payments to be made by card, in collaboration with Credit Saison, which has newly joined as a new investor.

This service isBy extending the payment deadline for all bank transfers to the credit card withdrawal date, it is possible to improve the cash flow of the user company.It is a service that provides a new option to extend the payment deadline in as little as 60 seconds without the need for document submission, interviews, and examinations for the financing issues of small and medium-sized enterprises that are increasingly under pressure due to the corona damage and the depreciation of the yen.

・ Service page:https://shi-harai.com/

Since the beta release of the serviceAlready used by more than hundreds of companiesIt contributes to the improvement of cash flow.As a strategic partnership, we will continue to focus on expanding the “Payment.com” business together with Credit Saison.

Comments from investors

* Comments are omitted for DST Global and Arena Holdings due to the PR policy.

WiL Masaya Kubota

As a joint lead, we have made an additional investment this time as well. The appearance of launching a new product in a very short period of time without slowing down the growth of the main business was overwhelming. The huge market size, deep user pane, and excellent product experience are all attractive, but what we feel together is the strength of the organization. An organization as an overwhelmingly superior collection of individuals faces products and customers with extremely high motivation. I think this is proof that the team is taking on the challenge of climbing an extremely high mountain with a sense of satisfaction and responsibility. I look forward to the challenges and achievements that will remain in the history of Japanese startups.

ANRI Junichiro Kono

I am very pleased to be able to accept the additional investment of UPSIDER this time as well. UPSIDER addresses the huge BtoB payment market, which goes beyond the corporate card market, and has achieved explosive growth with excellent products including user experience. That’s more than enough for this additional investment, but we continue to support UPSIDER because we have a great deal of trust in our team. It plays a part in the settlement that can be said to be the bloodstream of business. Because it is a business that bears a heavy responsibility, we strictly regulate ourselves and take on the challenge of creating universal value through constant efforts. I believe that UPSIDER’s essential strength lies in that attitude. We will continue to do our utmost to support the challenges of UPSIDER in the future.

Global Brain Keisuke Tateoka

Since its launch in 2020, UPSIDER has grown its business at an unprecedented speed. It has been introduced by many of Global Brain’s investment destinations, and I feel the user experience is wonderful. With this large-scale procurement including the loan facility, UPSIDER will become an indispensable product that supports the growth of more companies. Global Brain will continue to provide multifaceted support as well as financial support.

Tybourne Capital Management Masayuki Mochida

The corporate card industry in Japan is still highly inefficient, and we believe that innovation is a necessary field in the future. Looking overseas, there are many very large unlisted companies that have innovated with sophisticated services in this industry. UPSIDER’s service solves customers’ pain points and greatly promotes the efficiency of the Japanese corporate card industry. As the management team of UPSIDER, I look forward to working together for a long time to build a beloved company and a beloved service.

Mr. Hiroki Yamamoto, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital

We evaluated UPSIDER’s overwhelming growth speed and high potential, and made an investment. Under the management of strong management such as CEO Miyagi, we hope that we will continue to expand to all services, not just corporate cards, and open up a huge market called the legal human settlement market with DX. ..

Saison Ventures Shunji Ashikaga

With UPSIDER, “Let’s do an exciting job!”, We have formed a team and worked to provide a new legal human settlement service. We are confident that Payment.com will provide a new solution in the Japanese payment market by co-creating it through discussions on business concepts and selection of service names. Let’s continue to liven up together!

Use of funds: Accelerating recruitment

Special Thanks to: NOT A HOTEL, Posiwill, Sansan, SmartNews, SOELU, Yappli, YOUTRUST, 10X (alphabetical order)

The funds raised this time will be heavily invested in recruiting activities for the purpose of further product diversification and overseas expansion. This time, we released the recruitment page for the first time since our founding, and started recruiting in more than 20 positions.

We have built an organization with the idea of ”maximum impact with the minimum number of people”. In fiscal 2023, while strongly maintaining this philosophy, we will strengthen our recruiting activities with a view to global recruitment.

Even if you do not have the knowledge of the financial industry or experience in the Fintech field, we are looking for people who can continue to challenge themselves toward the mission of “creating a society where challenging people can play more active roles”.

Please check our recruitment page for detailed recruitment information.

・ Recruitment page:https://career.up-sider.com/

・ Company name: UPSIDER Co., Ltd.
・WEB：https://up-sider.com/lp/

・Establishment: May 2018
・Representative: Toru Miyagi
・ Capital: 8,264 million yen (including capital reserve)
・Location of the head office: 7-15-7 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
・ Membership Association ・ Certification: Japan Fund Settlement Industry Association, Security Certification PCI DSS v3.2.1