Smooth Secures ¥2.85 Billion in Series B First Close to Expand Rental BNPL Platform
Smooth, a FinTech startup disrupting the Japanese real estate market with its initial-cost installment payment service, has successfully completed the first close of its Series B funding round. The company has raised a total of approximately ¥2.85 billion (approx. USD 19.5 million), comprising both third-party equity allocation and debt financing facilities.
Funding Structure and Investor Syndicate
The Series B first close consists of approximately ¥1.58 billion in equity capital and ¥1.27 billion in debt financing.
The equity round was led by the Maezawa Fund, an investment vehicle established by ZOZO founder Yusaku Maezawa. The round also saw participation from new institutional investors XTech Ventures, Hiroshima Venture Capital, and Valueup Partners, alongside existing investor CyberAgent Capital.
To support its lending operations, Smooth secured ¥1.27 billion in debt facilities from a diverse group of financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, Hokkoku Bank, Shizuoka Bank, Flex Capital (Fivot), and the Japan Finance Corporation.
Business Model and Market Traction
Smooth addresses a critical pain point in the Japanese housing market: the prohibitively high upfront costs of renting, which often include security deposits, "key money" (gratitude money), and brokerage fees. The Smooth platform allows tenants to finance these costs through installment payments without requiring a traditional credit card.
The service has found strong product-market fit among younger demographics and professionals managing cash flow constraints. As of December 2025, the platform has surpassed 430,000 registered users. Investors highlighted the company's proprietary AI credit assessment model—capable of screening applicants in as little as 15 seconds—and its rapid B2B expansion, noting a threefold year-over-year increase in the number of partner real estate agencies.
Strategic Use of Capital
The newly raised equity capital will be deployed to accelerate user acquisition, enhance the product suite, and strengthen operational infrastructure to support scale. The debt capital will be utilized primarily as working capital to fund the fronting of rental costs for users.
“This financing round validates our approach to solving the deep-seated societal issue of high mobility costs in the housing sector,” stated CEO Taku Koizumi. “Moving forward, we aim to further diversify our funding methods to secure stable capital for installment advances. We are currently working toward a second close of the Series B round next year and plan to expand our footprint into peripheral financial services to offer a seamless relocation experience.”
Norbert Gehrke
