“Can a Japanese SMB chat platform become the embedded financial services hub for the country's 4M+ small businesses by monetizing trust and distribution built through daily communication?”
Founded in 2011 as Japan's largest domestic business chat platform, Chatwork has evolved from a pure SaaS messaging tool into an embedded finance hub for Japanese SMBs. Beginning in 2019, Chatwork layered invoice factoring and early payment services on top of its chat platform — first via OLTA, then Money Forward Kessai, and eventually its own 'Chatwork 先払い' product. The company migrated its core subscription payments infrastructure to Stripe in 2023, and the parent entity rebranded to kubell Co., Ltd. to reflect its ambitions beyond chat. The strategic bet is that the chat platform's 430,000+ SMB customers represent a captive distribution channel for embedded financial services.
Chatwork processes payments through Stripe.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in Chatwork's stack: Payments / PSP (Stripe); Lending (Chatwork 早期入金 powered by OLTA (invoice factoring), Chatwork 早期入金 powered by Money Forward Early Payment (accounts receivable early payment), NP Kakebarai via Chatwork DX Consultation Desk (BtoB BNPL) and Chatwork 先払い (in-house AI invoice factoring for freelancers/sole proprietors)).
Chatwork was founded by Masaki Yamamoto and is founded in 2011, headquartered in Osaka, Japan.
Chatwork has raised $12.5M+ (Series B disclosed) in total (latest round: Series B, 2016).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Chatwork and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.