On October 25, 2022, 400F, inc., a provider of the finaicial consultation matching platform announced that it raised 1.2 billion yen ($8M) in a Series B round.

This round was led by SBI Investment, with participation from new investors Aflac Ventures LLC, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital, and T&D Innovation Fund, in addition to existing investor Skyland Ventures.

Since its MBO from Money Design Inc. in July 2020, 400F has developed and provided the money consultation matching platform under the mission of "solving money problems through encounters," and has created many life-changing encounters through matching users who are embarking on asset building with money experts. In January 2022, the company will launch a new business based on the money consultation matching platform, a financial online advisory service that provides intermediary services for mutual funds and insurance sales, with the aim of providing more people with opportunities to solve their financial problems.

The money consultation matching platform is one of the largest platforms in Japan for one-stop free consultation on a variety of advice including securities, insurance, and banking, with a cumulative total of over 2,000 FPs and IFAs from 200 companies (as of October 14, 2022) registered. In addition to providing consultation on a wide range of topics such as asset management, insurance, mortgage loans, and inheritance, the platform is characterized by its ability to compare comments from multiple advisors. The service is chat-based and can be used in one's spare time, such as at home or during the move. In the four years since its release, the service has had a cumulative total of approximately 160,000 registered users.

This raise brings the company's cumulative fundraising to 1.8 billion yen, which it intends to invest aggressively to strengthen product development, marketing, and recruiting activities for the platform as well as to accelerate the development of its financial online advisor business and the expansion of its service lineup for corporate clients.

Lee Ming-geun, a manager at SBI Investment, said the following about the investment:

“The service provided by 400F meets the needs not only of users who have financial difficulties, but also of financial companies that have sales difficulties. We believe that sales DX can be achieved not only by introducing digital tools, but also by providing services that change the sales mechanism, as 400F does. We will continue to support the business development envisioned by 400F with our entire group.”

400F’s company profile is here:
https://protocol.ooo/companies/400f