CLSA acquires Japan household jobs marketplace

CLSA CP invested via Sunrise Capital III, which closed in 2017 at $400 million. It targets Japanese companies with enterprise valuations of JPY5-15 billion ($47-141 million) and strong potential for domestic expansion. The GP said in a release that it does not plan to make material changes to the management or operations.

Founded in 2013, Assist connects service vendors with customers seeking tradesmen or technicians for small jobs in areas such as plumbing, electrical, appliance repair and locksmithing, as well as labor for daily chores such as lawn mowing and house cleaning. The platform uses a membership system that is in use nationwide.

Local competition in this space includes peer-to-peer jobs and services marketplace Curama, which received an approximately $36 million Series C round earlier this year from a number of Japanese VC firms. Australian investors have also demonstrated interest in the category, with Sydney-based counterpart Airtasker having raised around $26 million for a UK expansion plan.

CLSA CP is a pan-Asian, multi-strategy asset manager based in Hong Kong. The Sunrise funds represent its Japan private equity strategy. Recent commitments from Sunrise III include IT services provider Earth Technology, toymaker Bloom, parking lot business Ecolo, and real estate services provider House Partner.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Japan
• CLSA Capital Partners
• TMT
• e-commerce
• professional services