General Atlantic completed its first growth equity investment in Japan and plans to do more, citing an increase in entrepreneurship in a country long considered a backwater for startups.
The New York-based private equity firm said it purchased a $96 million minority stake in human resources software platform SmartHR from early-stage investor Coral Capital Inc. SmartHR is one of Japan’s few unicorns, defined as a company with a valuation of $1 billion or more, and counts KKR & Co. and Sequoia Capital among its investors.
