Japan-based app development software provider Yappli has raised ¥3.05bn ($28m) in debt and equity financing from investors including internet company Yahoo Japan and financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).
The round was led by Eight Roads Ventures Japan, a venture capital arm of financial services and investment group Fidelity, and included venture capital firm Globis Capital Partners, while Yahoo Japan and SMBC invested through their YJ Capital and SMBC Venture Capital units.
The equity portion of the round consisted of $20.2m while financial services firms Mizuho Bank, Resona Bank and Japan Finance Corporation supplied $7.8m of debt.
Founded in 2013 as Fastmedia, Yappli has created a software platform helps users build and manage mobile applications without prior programming knowledge. More than 300 companies have employed Yappli’s services and it expects its sales to double this year.
The company will use the capital for product development, recruitment and marketing initiatives. It received $6m in an October 2017 round led by Globis and backed by Mizuho Bank, Itochu Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Itochu, and private investor Shogo Kawada.
Yappli had already collected $2.7m from enterprise software producer Salesforce, YJ Capital, Globis and Shogo Kawada in 2015, following $300,000 from YJ Capital two years earlier.
