Japanese payments and remittance startup Kyash has raised more than ¥1bn ($8.5m) in a Series A round.
The investment was led by regional investor JAFCO and also saw participation from Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Itochu Corporation, Dentsu Digital Holdings and Mizuho Financial Group.
As a result of the deal Kyash will enter into a strategic partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui and Itochu.
Kyash has operated in stealth mode since launching in January last year while developing it peer-to-peer payments app.
The company has also forged a partnership with Visa to enable it to issue credit cards that would allow users to spend money from their Kyash account in stores or take money out at ATMs.
The round follows the $1.4m Sumitomo Mitsui-led seed round Kyash took on in July 2015.
Hiroshi Minoura, a former VP of Mitsui Sumitomo Bank (SMBC) and the current CEO of US-based Greenhill & Co.’s Japanese subsidiary will join the firm’s advisory board as a part of the deal.
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