Japan-based e-commerce marketplace operator TimeBank has raised ¥3.95bn ($36.2m) from investors including Line Ventures, messaging platform developer Line’s corporate venturing unit.
Venture capital firms Jafco and Incubate Fund also participated in the round, which represents the company’s first external funding.
Founded in 2018, TimeBank has developed a mobile app that makes use of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to detect business downtime and analyse consumer behaviour, enabling goods and services to be sold at lower prices.
Business owners can also leverage TimeBank’s technology to identify new customers and revenue opportunities. Retailers, manufacturers and service providers such as restaurants and hotels are among the company’s customers.
TimeBank had more than 1.5 million users as of November 2019, and more than 30 businesses have each generated over $90,000 in revenue on the platform in the past six months, the company said.
The funding will be used for advertising efforts, in a bid to expand the TimeBank’s user base and increase the number of businesses on the platform. It also plans to establish business partnership agreements with some of its equity investors.
