SmartHR Revenue, Valuation, Funding & Investors
SmartHR is valued at $93M as of November 2025, a 0.9x revenue multiple. SmartHR revenue was $100M, as disclosed with its latest round.
Last SmartHR valuation
$93M
Secondary · Nov 2025
Last SmartHR funding round
Series E
Amount undisclosed · Jul 2024
SmartHR revenue
$100M
Secondary · Nov 2025
Key investors in SmartHR
World Innovation Lab
Light Street Capital
500 Global
BEENEXT
Sequoia Heritage
Signifiant
About SmartHR
SmartHR is a Tokyo-headquartered provider of an integrated cloud HR platform that handles payroll calculations, attendance management, social insurance filings, performance evaluations, and recruitment workflows. Launched in 2013, the platform connects directly to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare systems for automated submissions. It supports over 8,000 companies ranging from startups to listed corporations like Recruit Holdings and SoftBank Group, processing data for more than 1.2 million employees across industries including IT, manufacturing, and retail.
Founded
2013
HQ
TokyoWebsite
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Subscription
Revenue
$100M (Nov 2025)
Valuation
$93M (Nov 2025)
SmartHR Valuation
SmartHR is currently valued at $93M, based on its secondary sale in November 2025. Read the announcement ↗
The round was led by General Atlantic.
SmartHR's valuation has moved from $1.6B at its Series D in June 2021 to $93M in November 2025, across 2 priced rounds.
SmartHR valuation by funding round
Revenue multiple| Date | Stage | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | Secondary | $93M | 0.9x |
| Jun 2021 | Series D | $1.6B | - |
SmartHR Revenue
SmartHR's latest recorded revenue is $100M, as of its secondary sale in November 2025. At a $93M valuation, that implies a 0.9x revenue multiple.
SmartHR revenue by funding round
| Date | Revenue * | Valuation | Revenue Multiple | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | $100M | $93M | 0.9x | Secondary |
* Revenue (or ARR) figures are the values recorded alongside each funding round. Typically run-rate revenue at the time of the deal, or a reported LTM (last 12 months) revenue.
SmartHR Funding History
SmartHR has raised a total of $189M across 5 funding rounds, plus 1 secondary share sale.
SmartHR's first fundraising round was a $5M Series A in August 2016. The most recent completed round was a Series E in July 2024.
SmartHR funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | Secondary | General Atlantic (lead) | - | $93M | SmartHR is a cloud-native human resources management platform established in 2013 that serves Japanese enterprises. The platform consolidates HR processes including employee information, employment contracts, onboarding, and payroll, while also providing talent management tools such as performance reviews, employee surveys, personnel placement simulations, and skill management. SmartHR Plus, an integrated app store, connects the platform to specialized external services for customizable workflows. General Atlantic completed a $96 million (JPY¥14.6 billion) strategic minority stake acquisition in SmartHR from early-stage investor Coral Capital on November 17, 2025, marking General Atlantic's first growth equity investment in Japan. Coral Capital retained a committed minority shareholding and the transaction represented the largest secondary sale by a single seller in Japan's startup history, with Coral Capital returning 6x its initial investment from the 2017 SPV formation. SmartHR is one of Japan's few unicorns with a valuation exceeding $1 billion and has maintained the number one market share in Japan's labor management cloud sector for seven consecutive years according to Deloitte Tohmatsu MIC Research Institute. The company's investor base includes KKR and Sequoia Capital alongside the new partnership with General Atlantic, which plans to collaborate on product innovation, strategic partnerships, customer engagement, and complementary M&A opportunities while supporting an extended growth period before potential IPO. |
| Jul 2024 | Series E | KKR (lead); Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (lead); World Innovation Lab; Light Street Capital | - | - | SmartHR announced its Series E agreement on July 1, 2024. KKR and Ontario Teachers’ Venture Growth joined as new shareholders, while existing investors WiL and Light Street Capital also participated. The approximately JPY21.4 billion transaction combined newly issued shares with transfers by existing shareholders; the issuer did not publish the split between primary capital and secondary consideration. SmartHR planned to expand its human resources software, sales capacity, artificial intelligence capabilities and acquisition activity. The platform brings employee administration together with talent management, recruiting and connections to other business applications. More than thirty percent of existing customers were using its talent management products at announcement. The company reported annual recurring revenue above JPY15 billion in February 2024, a subscription run-rate measure rather than annual accounting revenue. The round introduced two new institutional backers to support the Japanese software company’s next phase of growth. |
| Jun 2021 | Series D | Light Street Capital (lead); Signifiant; Sequoia Capital; Whale Rock Capital Management; Sequoia Heritage; Arena Holdings; Greyhound Capital | $114M | $1.6B | SmartHR is a Japanese human resources tech startup offering a cloud-native HR platform that automates administrative tasks like labor management and employee benefits, positioning it as the leading HR SaaS company in Japan. The company raised a $142.5 million (JPY 15.6 billion) Series D round on June 8, 2021, achieving a post-money valuation of $1.6 billion. Light Street Capital led the round, with participation from Greyhound Capital, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, Whale Rock Capital, and others. This funding marked SmartHR's unicorn status amid growing enterprise tech investments in Japan. The round built on prior financings, enabling expansion in the competitive HR tech market where SmartHR differentiates through comprehensive automation for Japanese businesses. Subsequently, SmartHR raised a $140 million Series E in 2023 led by KKR and Teachers’ Venture Growth, with continued involvement from Light Street Capital and World Innovation Lab. The high valuation reflected strong market traction in Japan's HR software sector. |
| Jul 2019 | Series C | All Star SAAS Fund (lead); Signifiant (lead); World Innovation Lab; BEENEXT; Light Street Capital; Coral Capital; Sequoia Heritage | $57M | - | - |
| Jan 2018 | Series B | 500 Global (lead) | $14M | - | SmartHR is a Japanese startup founded in 2015 that provides a digital HR platform to streamline processes like new employee enrollment, replacing traditional paperwork and spreadsheets. The company attracted 10,000 customers, including unicorn e-commerce firm Mercari, by enabling digital handling of government-related onboarding tasks. At the time of the funding, SmartHR had 50 staff members. On January 22, 2018, SmartHR raised a JPY 1.5 billion ($13.3 million) Series B round led by 500 Startups Japan via a special purpose vehicle (SPV), marking the first such structure known in Japan. The funds were allocated to double the headcount from 50 to support development of new features, including payroll and benefits, and to build a platform hosting third-party services like business card printing for HR clients. SmartHR aims to become Japan's digital system of record for HR by expanding beyond onboarding into a comprehensive platform. |
| Aug 2016 | Series A | World Innovation Lab (lead); Yu Akasaka; Kotaro Chiba; Jun Nishikawa; BEENEXT; 500 Global | $5M | - | Available information about SmartHR is limited to recent funding activity. The company is a cloud-based human resources and labor management software startup founded in 2015 by Kensuke Naito and Shoji Miyata. As of February 2024, SmartHR had achieved $100 million in annual recurring revenue, up from $80 million in total revenue reported for FY 2023. In July 2024, the company raised $140 million in a Series E round led by KKR and Teachers' Ventures Growth, which was allocated toward product development, hiring, and M&A growth strategies. At the time of the Series E round, the company had approximately 1,000 employees. |
Who has invested in SmartHR?
18 investors have backed SmartHR across its funding rounds, including World Innovation Lab, Light Street Capital, 500 Global, BEENEXT, Sequoia Heritage and Signifiant.
Lead investors include General Atlantic, KKR, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Light Street Capital, All Star SAAS Fund and 3 other investors.
SmartHR Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Palo Alto, CA | 3 | Lead | Aug 2016 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 3 | Lead | Jul 2019 | |
| Tokyo | 2 | Lead | Jul 2019 | |
 Singapore | 2 | Participant | Aug 2016 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 2 | Participant | Jul 2019 | |
| Palo Alto, CA | 2 | Lead | Aug 2016 | |
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20"><rect fill="%23e5e7eb" width="20" height="20" rx="4"/></svg>){kind=small} Yu Akasaka | Tokyo | 1 | Participant | Aug 2016 |
| New York City, NY | 1 | Lead | Jul 2024 | |
 Toronto | 1 | Lead | Jul 2024 | |
| Kotaro Chiba | Tokyo | 1 | Participant | Aug 2016 |
| Jun Nishikawa | Tokyo | 1 | Participant | Aug 2016 |
| New York City, NY | 1 | Lead | Nov 2025 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | Participant | Jun 2021 | |
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 18 SmartHR investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by SmartHR
SmartHR has acquired 1 company to date.
Last acquisition by SmartHR was on May 6th 2026. SmartHR acquired Xbit for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by SmartHR
| Description | Xbit is a Tokyo-based software provider offering AI-driven chatbot tools for workforce scheduling in retail and hospitality. Its platform aggregates employee availability via mobile apps and generates optimized shift rosters compliant with Japanese labor laws. Deployed by over 500 stores, the service integrates with POS systems for real-time adjustments. Launched in 2019, Xbit serves chains like convenience stores and cafes, reducing manual planning by 70 percent through predictive algorithms. |
| HQ Country | |
| HQ City | Tokyo |
| Deal Date | 6 May 2026 |
| Valuation | undisclosed |
| EV/Revenue | |
| EV/EBITDA | |
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all SmartHR acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | |
SmartHR Competitors
SmartHR competitors include listed companies like OpenWork and TON Strategy, and private ones like KarmaCheck, Blink, Glue and Slice Global.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | Private | - | - | $90M | - | |
 London | Private | $21M | - | $100M | 4.8x | |
| Seattle, WA | Private | - | - | $100M | - | |
 Tel Aviv | Private | - | - | $100M | - | |
| Japan | Publicly listed | $29M | $8M | $117M | 2.2x | |
| United States | Publicly listed | $13M | ($148M) | $151M | 9.5x |
SmartHR Public Comps
SmartHR is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Human Technologies, Humanica, ReadyTech, OpenWork, TON Strategy, Kinatico, Synel MLL Payway, PaySauce, Safeture and Coel.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $47M | $10M | 1.6x | 1.6x | 7.8x | - | |||
| $45M | $17M | 2.0x | 1.8x | 5.4x | 5.4x | |||
| $87M | $19M | 1.5x | 1.5x | 6.7x | 5.0x | |||
| $29M | $8M | 2.3x | 2.2x | 8.8x | - | |||
| $13M | ($148M) | 9.5x | 9.5x | (0.8x) | - | |||
| $24M | $4M | 1.1x | 1.1x | 7.1x | 6.1x | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| $4M | ($567K) | 1.8x | 1.2x | (11.4x) | (89.3x) | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all SmartHR competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about SmartHR
| When was SmartHR founded? | SmartHR was founded in 2013. |
| Where is SmartHR headquartered? | SmartHR is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. |
| Is SmartHR publicly listed? | No, SmartHR is a private, VC-backed company. |
| What is SmartHR's valuation? | SmartHR was last valued at $93M in its secondary sale in November 2025. |
| How much funding has SmartHR raised? | SmartHR has raised $189M across 5 funding rounds. |
| What was SmartHR's last funding round? | SmartHR's last funding round was a Series E in July 2024, led by KKR and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. |
| Who are SmartHR's investors? | SmartHR's investors include World Innovation Lab, Light Street Capital, Signifiant, BEENEXT, Sequoia Heritage, 500 Global, Yu Akasaka, KKR, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Kotaro Chiba and 8 others. |
| What is SmartHR's revenue? | SmartHR's latest recorded revenue is $100M (November 2025). |
| What is SmartHR's revenue multiple? | SmartHR's latest valuation implies a 0.9x revenue multiple ($93M valuation on $100M of revenue). |
| Which companies are comparable to SmartHR? | Companies comparable to SmartHR include KarmaCheck, Blink, Glue, Slice Global, OpenWork and TON Strategy. |
| How many companies has SmartHR acquired? | SmartHR has acquired 1 company, including Xbit. |
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