Japanese Accounting SaaS Company "freee" Raises $8M from DCM and Infinity Venture Partners to Be Japan's Top SMB-Support Brand

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Apr 24, 2014, 09:06 ET

TOKYO, April 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- freee announced today that it received $8 million in Series B funding from DCM and Infinity Venture Partners. With this funding, the company aims to become the top brand in the Japanese SMB market through the following initiatives.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140424/77981

Automate back-office chores for SMBs: freee has been successful in automating accounting/bookkeeping for SMBs, and will invest further in product development to add features covering more lines of back-office chores. As the first of its new product initiatives, the company plans to launch a payroll feature in the near future.

Reinforce customer support capabilities: freee has been a leader in providing innovative customer support in Japan, for example, by offering live chat support - a feature loved universally by its customers. freee will further invest in customer support to provide the best user experience possible as the company grows.

Accelerate marketing activities: freee will accelerate customer acquisition and user research to increase the number of delighted customers liberated from mundate back-office tasks.

freee launched in March 2013 with the mission to liberate SMBs from time consuming back-office tasks, therefore enabling them to focus on their core businesses. The product is an online accounting software developed specifically for SMBs in Japan. It syncs with bank and credit card accounts to categorize income and spending items to automate bookkeeping. It is designed to be very easy to use, and users can even create tax filing forms without any accounting skills.

freee is used by over 70,000 SMBs in Japan. Since its launch, freee has been investing in improving the product by increasing bank coverage (1,600+ local banks supported), adding features, launching iOS and Android apps, and integrating with major SMB tools such as Square and AirRegi (a POS app by Recruit). Its freemium model's paid plan starts at 980 JPY (~10USD) per month per business. The company was founded in July 2012 by Daisuke Sasaki, who previously led Google's SMB marketing in Asia-Pacific region.

About DCM

DCM is an early stage venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Tokyo with more than $2.5 billion under management. DCM has invested in more than 200 technology companies across the United States and Asia, and provides hands-on operational guidance and a global network of business and financial resources. DCM has backed industry leading companies such as 51job, 58.com, About.com, BitAuto, Clearwire, Dangdang, eDreams, Fortinet, Foundry Networks, Kabu.com, Luxin, PGP Corporation, Pokelabo, Renren, SandForce, Sling Media, SMIC, StarFlyer, VanceInfo, and Vipshop. DCM also invested in exciting, upcoming startups such as Analogix, Arrayent, Bill.com, BitTorrent, Kakao, Happy Elements, SoFi, Tuniu, and Youxinpai.

About Infinity Venture Partners

Infinity Venture Partners is the Asian arm of e.ventures and an early-stage venture capital firm focusing on the consumer services via the internet and mobile network in Greater China and Japan. The firm is the organizer of the Infinity Ventures Summit, the biggest and most prestigious conference for CEOs in the internet and mobile industry in Japan.

About freee and freee K.K.

freee is automated online accounting software that syncs with your bank accounts and automatically categorise entries to create financial reports. freee was launched on Mar 2013 and is offered to SMBs operating under the Japanese taxation system. It takes freemium model and its paid plan begins at 980 JPY (~10 USD) per month per business.

freee K.K. was founded in July 2012 led by Daisuke Sasaki, who previously headed up Google's SMB marketing in Asia Pacific region. freee is the winner of Invinity Ventures Summit Launch Pad 2013 Spring, the most prestigious demo event in Japan.

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