Japan-based financial inclusion firm Gojo & Company received an additional ¥2.02bn ($19.3m) in series D funding from investors including financial services firm Higashi-Nippon Bank’s Local Company Revitalisation Fund on Tuesday.
Investment management firm Baillie Gifford, private equity fund TGVest Capital and multiple individuals filled out the tranche, which included convertible bonds. The company’s ongoing series D round has reached $41.5m and its funding stands at roughly $114m since it was founded in 2014.
The $21.6m first close was backed by financial services firms Seven Bank and SBI Group as well as unnamed private backers in April this year, after a loan from payment services provider Credit Saison two months earlier.
Gojo provides microfinance services for unbanked and financially underserved customers in countries such as Cambodia, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The cash will go to developing and digitising subsidiaries in the existing markets and increasing its presence in more Asian and African countries.
Seven Bank took part in the company’s $38.8m series C round in October 2019, investing alongside insurance provider Dai-ichi Life, retailer Marui and TransLink Capital Partners, an investment vehicle for insurer Sompo Japan and airline operator Japan Airlines.
The series C round included SBI and brokerage Aizawa Securities’ venture capital subsidiaries, Aizawa Investments and SBI Investment, as well as 15th Rock Ventures, Dream Incubator, Tokyo University of Science Investment Management Company and multiple individuals.
Dai-ichi Life had previously invested in a $17.2m series B round Gojo closed in mid-2018. It also featured consulting firm Link and Motivation, insurance firm Nippon Life’s Nissay Capital vehicle, Jafco and Nippon Venture Capital.
