Global Brain and Tencent co-lead investment in UPSIDER

Global Brain and Tencent have co-led an additional investment in UPSIDER, provider of the corporate credit card “UPSIDER” and business payment solution “Shiharai.com.”

Global Brain’s investments were made through its GB-VI & GB-VII Follow-on Growth Fund, GB-VIII Growth Fund, GB-IX Growth Fund, and FUKOKU -THE MUTUAL for Next 100 Fund (TMN100). This marks the first investment made by GB-VIII, GB-IX, and TMN100 funds in UPSIDER.

New investors

• Tencent
• Japan Airlines
• SuMi TRUST Innovation Fund
• QR Investment (Hokkoku Financial Holdings Investment Subsidiary)

Additional investment by existing shareholders

• Global Brain
• Mizuho Capital
• Mitsubishi UFJ Capital
• AG Capital
• ANRI
• DNX Ventures
• SMBC Venture Capital
• WiL

UPSIDER’s mission is to create a global financial platform that supports “Challengers” — startups aiming to bring new ventures to the world and companies constantly evolving their existing businesses.

UPSIDER offers two key services designed to reduce the complexities and risks associated with business payments: “UPSIDER,” a corporate credit card service, and “Shiharai.com,” solutions that enable companies to settle inter-company bank transfers using credit cards. Through these services, UPSIDER has been tackling challenges related to cash flow and payment processing. Since UPSIDER’s service launch in May 2018, over 60,000 companies have adopted its services, with cumulative corporate credit card transaction volumes exceeding 450 billion yen as of September 2024.

In September 2023, the company launched “UPSIDER Coworker,” an AI chat-based business tool that automates nearly all card-related operations at UPSIDER through AI support. In December 2023, the company launched “UPSIDER BLUE DREAM Fund,” a debt fund for startups in and beyond the growth stage.

In Japan, many companies still face challenges related to the complexity of payment operations and lack of specialized accounting knowledge. Furthermore, the adoption rate of credit card payments remains low compared to other developed countries, indicating significant potential for growth. Through this recent fundraising, UPSIDER plans to further strengthen the development of new services such as UPSIDER Coworker and advance the AI transformation of its financial platform.

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