Japan-based accounting software provider Money Forward has had an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange that will allow several corporate investors to exit, it said today.
Founded in 2012, Money Forward has developed a personal accounting and finance management app that can be integrated with a user’s bank account and purchase history.
The company has not disclosed how much it hopes to raise through the IPO, but it will offer about 1.6 million shares and another 382,300 through an over-allotment option. SMBC Nikko Securities is lead underwriter.
Yosuke Tsuji, Money Forward’s CEO, is its largest shareholder, with a stake of approximately 20%. Other notable investors include investment firm Jafco (14.9%), venture capital firm Monex Ventures (4.8%) and payment services provider Credit Saison (4.1%).
Money Forward has raised about $48m in funding, most recently securing $11m in an October 2016 series D round.
The series D featured financial services firms Toho Bank, North Pacific Bank, Gunma Bank, Fukui Bank, Shiga Bank and Mizuho Bank, which invested through its Mizuho Capital unit, as well as retail group Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings and Fenox Venture Capital.
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital and GMO Venture Partners, subsidiaries of insurer Mitsui Sumitomo and internet company GMO, took part in Money Forward’s $12.5m series B round in 2014 alongside software publisher Sourcenext, digital marketer Dentsu, Credit Saison, Jafco and a Mizuho Bank affiliate.
Money Forward then raised $13.2m in a 2015 series C round backed by Toho, Fenox, conglomerate Mitsui and financial services providers SBI Group, Shizuoka Bank, Yamaguchi Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation.