Japan-based online asset management platform Folio has raised ¥7bn ($63m) in series A2 funding from investors including messaging app developer Line and conglomerate Mitsui & Co, The Bridge reported yesterday.
Dentsu Ventures and SMBC Venture Capital, respective subsidiaries of marketing firm Dentsu and financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, also took part along with investment bank Goldman Sachs, DCM Ventures and Draper Nexus Ventures.
Founded in 2015, Folio operates an online asset management platform that relies on robo-advisors and aims to make the stock market more accessible by letting users select a theme, such as drones or space technologies, rather than choosing individual corporates in which to invest.
Folio will use the funding to launch a research and development division that will focus on machine learning, blockchain and other emerging technologies.
In addition to investing in the company, Line has signed a strategic partnership with Folio and will integrate the latter’s offering into its messaging app. The move is part of Line’s drive to build an ecosystem of services that users can access directly through its app.
DCM and Draper Nexus supplied $2.7m in seed funding for Folio in 2016 before taking part in the company’s $16m series A round in February 2017 alongside Rakuten Fintech Fund, a subsidiary of e-commerce and firm Rakuten.
The series A round also included Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, a corporate venture capital subsidiary of insurance firm Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, as well as Monex Ventures and Jafco.