Japan-based key technology developer Bitkey completed a ¥3.44bn ($31.4m) series A round last month featuring corporates Fulltime System, Goodpatch, Hankyu Hanshin Properties, Mitsui Fudosan and Shinsei Bank, it announced today.
Locker service provider Fulltime System and user interface designer Goodpatch invested directly while financial services firm Shinsei Bank and property developers Hankyu Hanshin Properties and Mitsui Fudosan took part through Shinsei Corporate Investment, HHP Co-Creation Fund I and 31Ventures.
The round was filled out by investment bank Goldman Sachs, private equity firm Mercuria Investment and venture capital firms Cyberdyne and Global Brain, the latter two through CEJ Capital and GB-VII Growth Fund Investment Limited Partnership respectively.
A further $4.3m in debt financing was supplied by financial services firms Resona Bank and Mizuho Bank, taking the company’s overall debt and equity financing to approximately $45.7m since it was founded in 2018.
Bitkey provides subscription-based smart lock systems and has sold more than 120,000 units of Bitkey Lite, a product that facilitates home delivery, to corporate and individual customers. It will use the series A funding to increase sales, strengthen customer relations and expand overseas.
The round’s $20.6m first tranche was closed in October 2019 and included Hankyu Hanshin, Shinsei Corporate Investment, Goldman Sachs and Mercuria Investment Japan in addition to the debt from Resona Bank and Mizuho Bank.
Real estate developer Mori Trust and multiple individual investors had provided $6.9m in funding for Bitkey in June 2019, after a $3.1m round backed by digital advertising technology provider Voyage Group’s corporate VC arm, Voyage Ventures, and various angel investors six months earlier.
