Funding News HRtech

SmartHR Secures $96 Million Strategic Minority Investment from General Atlantic to Accelerate Growth

• ByStartupStory     |    November 18, 2025

SmartHR, the leading cloud-native human resources management platform in Japan, has received a significant strategic minority investment of $96 million (approximately ¥14.6 billion) from global growth equity firm General Atlantic. This investment marks General Atlantic’s first growth equity deal in Japan and is positioned to support SmartHR’s continued momentum and innovation within the HR technology sector.

General Atlantic acquired its stake from Coral Capital, an early investor in SmartHR, which will remain a committed minority shareholder. The partnership aims to accelerate SmartHR’s growth through new product development, strategic partnerships, enhanced customer engagement, selective mergers and acquisitions, and a sharpened go-to-market strategy.

Founded in 2013, SmartHR has established itself as Japan’s market leader in HR software, offering an all-in-one cloud-based solution that digitizes key HR services such as employee system of record management, talent and labor workflows, time tracking, payroll, and regulatory reporting. The platform enhances workforce productivity, operational efficiency, and employee experience while supporting compliance with evolving government mandates.

SmartHR also operates an app-store ecosystem called SmartHR Plus, which integrates external specialized applications to provide highly customizable and secure data exchange across businesses.

Masato Serizawa, CEO and Board Director of SmartHR, expressed enthusiasm about welcoming General Atlantic as a strategic partner. He emphasized that General Atlantic’s extensive expertise in scaling HR software companies would be instrumental in propelling SmartHR’s next growth phase focused on improving corporate productivity and fostering inclusive workplace environments.

General Atlantic’s Co-President and Head of Global Growth Equity, Martín Escobari, noted Japan’s emerging entrepreneurial renaissance and increasing adoption of cloud software solutions. He highlighted SmartHR’s potential to capture the ongoing digitization trend across enterprises, backed by its agility and scalable platform.

SmartHR’s journey includes previous substantial funding rounds, including a $140 million Series E led by private equity giant KKR and a $143 million Series D by US-based Light Street Capital, Sequoia Heritage, and other top-tier investors.

This $96 million infusion from General Atlantic underscores growing investor confidence in Japan’s dynamic HR technology market and signals increasing global interest in Japanese SaaS innovators.

Follow Startup Story