SmartHR Gets $96M Investment from General Atlantic, Buys Coral Stake

SmartHR , a leading cloud-native human resources management platform, and General Atlantic, a leading global investor, today announced a US$96 million (JPY¥14.6 billion) strategic minority investment from General Atlantic into SmartHR. General Atlantic acquired its stake in SmartHR from Coral Capital, which will remain a committed minority shareholder.

Founded in 2013, SmartHR has established itself as Japan’s leading HR technology platform, providing an all-in-one cloud-based solution for HR services to Japanese businesses. SmartHR’s products include digitizing the employee system of record, as well as supporting workflows across talent and labor management, time and attendance, payroll, and more, in addition to facilitating government reporting requirements. The Company’s suite of products ultimately helps customers reduce operational burden, manage workforce data more efficiently, enhance overall productivity, and improve the employee experience.

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General Atlantic and Coral Capital will partner closely with SmartHR’s management team to advance the Company’s growth through new product development, key strategic partnerships, enriched customer engagement and support, complimentary M&A, and continued enhancement of its go-to-market strategy, with the shared goal of accelerating industry-leading customer satisfaction while facilitating the digitalization of Japan’s workforce ecosystem.

The partnership with SmartHR marks General Atlantic’s first growth equity investment in Japan. General Atlantic has a 45-year track record of supporting innovative technology businesses around the globe. The firm brings specific expertise in scaling HR software businesses, with current investments in global growth companies including ATOSS Software, Gusto, Hibob, PayFit, and Staffbase.

Masato Serizawa, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of SmartHR, commented: “We are extremely pleased to welcome General Atlantic as our new strategic partner. Backed by their extensive global experience and demonstrated history of scaling HR software businesses, we are confident that they will be a powerful force in accelerating our next stage of growth. Through this partnership, we will continue to drive greater corporate productivity and help create more inclusive and fulfilling workplaces for everyone.”

Martín Escobari, Co-President and Head of Global Growth Equity at General Atlantic, commented: “SmartHR is dedicated to transforming how Japanese enterprises manage and support their people. The Company has prioritized execution and agility to develop a fully digital, highly scalable platform that addresses mission-critical HR needs for its customers. With the Japanese market still early in its adoption of cloud software solutions, we believe SmartHR has significant opportunity to capture the long-term trend towards digitization. On a wider scale, we are energized by the new wave of talented founders and technological innovation in Japan and look forward to supporting the country’s exciting entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

James Riney, Founding Partner and CEO of Coral Capital, said: “This is a fantastic outcome for everyone involved. SmartHR is a company that’s very close to our hearts. Back in 2017, we became its largest investor – going all-in through an SPV, which was the first of its kind in Japan at the time. Since then, SmartHR has gone on to dominate the HR software market in Japan and continues to compound at an extraordinary pace. We’re thrilled to partner with General Atlantic and continue supporting the Company’s remarkable journey.”

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Source:  Businesswire