KKR, a prominent global investment firm, and Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, have announced the signing of definitive agreements. Under these agreements, KKR, representing funds under its management, and TVG will jointly oversee a Series E funding round totaling US$140 million (JPY 21.4 billion) for SmartHR, a leading cloud-based human resources management platform in Japan. Existing shareholders will also participate in this round.
The investment aims to expedite SmartHR’s expansion, supporting the development of new solutions, talent acquisition efforts, and both organic and strategic growth initiatives. Established in 2013, SmartHR operates as a cloud-native platform for human resources management, offering a suite of technology-driven solutions. These include employee management, administration, talent management, and enhancing employee productivity. Serving a diverse clientele ranging from large enterprises to SMEs, SmartHR provides comprehensive solutions tailored to varying business needs.
Mukul Chawla, Partner and Head of Growth Equity, Asia Pacific, KKR, said, “As one of Japan’s leading human resource Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, SmartHR is playing a critical role in enabling the country’s drive towards greater workforce productivity, while leaning into accelerating digitalization and cloud penetration. Through our technology growth strategy, we look to support innovative, disruptive local champions with our expertise, best practices and networks across KKR’s global platform. SmartHR is an exceptional example of Japan’s new economy, and we are delighted to work with the company’s management, board and TVG in supporting SmartHR in the next phase of its growth”.
Olivia Steedman, Executive Managing Director and Global Head, Teachers’ Venture Growth, said, “SmartHR has demonstrated innovative ways to help companies of every size improve how they manage and develop their workforces. As Japanese companies increasingly transform their businesses with digital solutions, SmartHR is well-positioned to support a variety of their labor management needs. We look forward to working alongside KKR to help accelerate SmartHR’s growth journey while also leveraging our global expertise to find ways to be a value-adding partner”.
KKR’s investment is part of its Asia Next Generation Technology (Asia NGT) strategy, marking its latest venture into technology investments in Japan. Previous investments in Japan include Yayoi, which provides financial and accounting software for SMEs; NetStars, operator of Japan’s largest QR code payment gateway; and dataX, a marketing SaaS platform. Other Asia NGT investments encompass GrowSari, a B2B e-commerce platform for SMEs in the Philippines; KiotViet, a SaaS platform for SMEs in Vietnam; Privy, a digital identity provider in Indonesia; MUSINSA, an online fashion platform in Korea; Lenskart, an omni-channel eyewear retailer in India; and Advanced Navigation, a developer of AI-powered robotics in Australia.