SmartHR, a cloud-native human resources management platform, and General Atlantic, a global investor, announced a US$96 million (JPY¥14.6 billion) strategic minority investment from General Atlantic into SmartHR.
General Atlantic acquired its stake in SmartHR from Coral Capital, which will remain a committed minority shareholder. Founded in 2013, SmartHR has established itself as Japan’s HR technology platform, providing an all-in-one cloud-based solution for HR services to Japanese businesses. SmartHR’s products include digitizing the employee system of record, supporting workflows across talent and labor management, time and attendance, payroll, and facilitating government reporting requirements. The Company’s suite of products aims to reduce operational burden, manage workforce data, enhance productivity, and improve the employee experience.
General Atlantic and Coral Capital will collaborate with SmartHR’s management team to advance the Company’s growth. This partnership aims to support new product development, key strategic partnerships, enriched customer engagement and support, M&A activities, and continued enhancement of its go-to-market strategy. The shared goal is to accelerate customer satisfaction and facilitate the digitalization of Japan’s workforce ecosystem.
This partnership marks General Atlantic’s first growth equity investment in Japan. General Atlantic has a 45-year track record of supporting technology businesses globally and has specific expertise in scaling HR software businesses, with current investments including ATOSS Software, Gusto, Hibob, PayFit, and Staffbase.
Masato Serizawa, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of SmartHR, commented, “We are pleased to welcome General Atlantic as our new strategic partner. Backed by their global experience and demonstrated history of scaling HR software businesses, we are confident that they will accelerate our next stage of growth. Through this partnership, we will continue to drive greater corporate productivity and help create more inclusive and fulfilling workplaces for everyone.”
Martín Escobari, Co-President and Head of Global Growth Equity at General Atlantic, stated, “SmartHR is dedicated to transforming how Japanese enterprises manage and support their people. The Company has prioritized execution and agility to develop a fully digital, highly scalable platform that addresses mission-critical HR needs for its customers. With the Japanese market still early in its adoption of cloud software solutions, we believe SmartHR has significant opportunity to capture the long-term trend towards digitization. On a wider scale, we are energized by the new wave of talented founders and technological innovation in Japan and look forward to supporting the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
James Riney, Founding Partner and CEO of Coral Capital, remarked, “This is a fantastic outcome for everyone involved. SmartHR is a company that’s very close to our hearts. Back in 2017, we became its largest investor – going all-in through an SPV, which was the first of its kind in Japan at the time. Since then, SmartHR has gone on to dominate the HR software market in Japan and continues to compound at an extraordinary pace. We’re thrilled to partner with General Atlantic and continue supporting the Company’s remarkable journey.”
SmartHR’s cloud-based HR and labor management software has maintained the no. 1 share in the labor management cloud market in Japan for seven consecutive years. The platform digitizes and centralizes a wide range of HR and labor processes, including managing employee information, employment contracts, onboarding, attendance management, and payroll calculations. It also leverages this data through talent management functions such as Performance Reviews, Employee Surveys, Personnel Placement Simulations, and Skill Management. The SmartHR Plus app store offers applications that integrate SmartHR with specialized external services, allowing for customization and secure data integration.
General Atlantic has approximately $118 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2025.
