Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, The Shoko Chukin Bank, The Shizuoka Bank and The Bank of Fukuoka have provided KnowledgeWork with ¥4.8bn (about $31m) of debt financing, comprising ¥1.5bn of loans and ¥3.3bn of committed credit lines, as the second close of its Series C.
KnowledgeWork, based in Tokyo's Minato-ku and led by chief executive Koji Asano, sells sales AI agents and related consulting mainly to large companies. Customers include NTT Docomo Business, Mizuho Bank and Nissin Foods.
A company spokesperson told Nikkei that, after securing a large credit line, KnowledgeWork is keeping drawdowns to the minimum necessary for now to limit current interest costs.
The company told Nikkei that combining equity and debt limits dilution and helps control funding costs as rates rise. Proceeds will fund infrastructure that lets AI agents use customers' sales strategy and data, as well as hiring of consulting staff.
The first close of the Series C comprised ¥3.5bn of equity led by Globis Capital Partners. New investors included SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, both now also lenders, as well as Mitsubishi UFJ Innovation Partners, NTT Docomo Ventures and Ricoh Japan. Existing investors DNX Ventures, WiL and Salesforce Ventures also participated.
KnowledgeWork said the Series C is now complete. Cumulative equity raised stands at ¥9.74bn, while cumulative debt, including credit lines, totals ¥6.49bn. Terms including interest rate, maturity and the per-lender split were not disclosed.