INCJ invests $8m in Japanese mobile payment start-up

The Tokyo-based start-up, which was launched by ex-PayPal Japan employee Naoka Samata in March last year, provides mobile payment solutions using card readers for smart phones.

According to Nikkei, the company - which previously raised JPY500 million from credit card firm Credit Saison in August - hopes to transact more than JPY1 trillion through its payments platform in the next five years.

This is not INCJ‘s only investment in the space. The fund announced earlier this month that it would commit up to JPY1 billion in Royalgate, the firm behind similar service Paygate, which previously raised a JPY100 million seed round from NTT Investment Partners and Mizuho Capital in 2011.

Other competing services include PayPal Here, which was launched in Japan last year after PayPal formed a strategic alliance with telecoms giant Softbank; Smartpay, a service launched by the country's largest e-commerce firm Rakuten; and Square, which is backed by the Silicon Valley start-up of the same name and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Corporation.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• North Asia
• Consumer
• Venture
• Technology
• Financials
• Japan
• Consumer
• Financial Services
• TMT
• Venture
• Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ)