Dinii raises JPY7.46bn in their latest Series B Round
Lead investors Hillhouse Investment Management and Bessemer Venture Partners make their first investments into Japan’s startup ecosystem
Dinii Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo / Representative Director: Mao Yamada / hereinafter referred to as the Company) raised their latest Series B round co-lead by Hillhouse Investment Management (HH),Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) and , alongside other global investors including Flight Deck Capital and Eclectic Management, for a total of JPY 7.46bn. (*1)
◼︎Purpose of fundraising
The funds raised this round will be used mainly for product development and launching new businesses across all segments, including finance and HR solutions, with the goal of becoming the infrastructure for the entire restaurant industry. Funds will also be dedicated to scale the organization through recruiting the best talent in order to build the “All in One Restaurant Cloud” that Dinii seeks to become.
With ”Making Dining Out Fun and Interesting” as their mission, Dinii aims to become the restaurant infrastructure for everyone, beginning in 2018 with their “Dinii POS” and “Dinii Mobile Order” products which help restaurants increase revenues. Recently, Dinii has made inroads into fintech with their “Dinii Cashless” launch, the cashless payment solution with lowest fees in the industry. *2
Harnessing the power of technology and fintech, Dinii aims to develop their HR products by the end of 2024 to transform the restaurant industry by ultimately becoming the infrastructure itself. By leveraging the CRM capabilities from their main business, coupled with aggregate consumer data via in-store payments, Dinii seeks to allow restaurants to visualize data insights that have not been possible until now, in doing so, contribute to the topline growth as well as the credit scorings of these restaurants across Japan.
※１ Refer to BOJ, International Bureau, Sep 2024 Rate
（ https://www.boj.or.jp/about/services/tame/tame_rate/kijun/kiju2409.htm ）
<Latest Round’s Investors>
・Hillhouse Investment Management
・Bessemer Venture Partners
・Flight Deck Capital
・Eclectic Management
◼︎About Recruiting
＜Special Recruiting Site 2024＞
URL：https://recruit2024.dinii.jp/
＜Company Deck＞
URL：https://speakerdeck.com/diniiofficial/dinii-company-deck-ver-dot-1-0-2024
<Recruitment event>
Dinii 2024 online information session will be held for 3 consecutive weeks.
Date and time:
[For all positions] Starts at 19:00 on Wednesday, October 9, 2024
[For development side] Starts at 19:00 on Wednesday, October 16, 2024
[For business side] October 23, 2024 (Wednesday) 19:00 start
◼︎Comments from our Global Investors
Hillhouse Investment Management｜Shin Kim
Hillhouse is thrilled to invest in Dinii’s innovative cloud-based POS tailored for restaurants in Japan. The team’s deep commitment to addressing the unique challenges faced by Japan’s restaurants is evident in their rapidly expanding suite of functionalities. We truly believe Dinii will become an indispensable asset for restaurant operators, with their transformative tool that streamlines operations, improves customer experience, and captures business opportunities.
Bessemer Venture Partners ｜Bryan Wu
BVP cannot be more excited about joining the journey of Dinii. Having been fortunate to be a key investor of Toast in the US, supporting it to become a USD 13 billion company, we find a similar element of success in Dinii: a strong team led by a young and visionary leader, a large underserved market and the best all-in-one cloud-based solution. We are confident that Dinii will emerge as one of the most prominent SaaS and FinTech leaders in Japan.
Flight Deck Capital ｜Jay Kahn
I’m very excited about the potential for Dinii to penetrate the Japanese restaurant market. Having invested in Toast in the United States, I’ve witnessed first-hand how a vertically focused software application built specifically for restaurants beats generic POS systems over time. While Japan has lagged in terms of adoption to cloud based POS solutions, I expect the country to normalize penetration over time vs. global peers. Dinii is well positioned to win this market given the thoughtful, innovative, and differentiated solutions the team has built to-date and has in the pipeline to-come.
Eclectic Management ｜Kyle Yuan
An all-in-one cloud point of sale is both an expectation and a requirement for every restaurant in Japan today. Dinii has the potential to become one of Japan’s largest technology companies by leading the digitization of the large restaurant sector that remains offline. New employees will have the unique opportunity to work in a dynamic, young, and bilingual (English and Japanese) environment, with significant and continued backing from leading global investors. They’ll tackle complex challenges and gain experience in software, hardware, finance, and operations as Dinii becomes a major software and financial technology company.
◼︎Dinii Inc. CEO Mao Yamada
Japan’s restaurant industry is one of the world’s most remarkable industries and one of the backbone of the nation, accounting for 5% of Japan’s GDP. Dinii is committed to tackling the challenges of this massive industry head-on. And the solution to this challenge is Dinii’s “All in One Restaurant Cloud”.
We approach the challenges faced by the restaurant industry and its stakeholders head-on. We solve complex issues one by one. We have robust strategies and products. Furthermore, we have created a roadmap to expand globally from right here in Japan.
With this latest fundraising, insofar that we have been highly regarded for the magnitude of our vision and ability to execute, must we therefore live up to the expectations and responsibilities in equal measure.
The world continues to see the emergence of unicorns and decacorns. The presence of startups is only set to accelerate further, not merely in the US, but also in other markets such as India, France, amongst others.
On the other hand, Japan is said to be in a startup recession, and it is difficult to say if many world-class startups can be born in Japan.
Dinii was born in Japan, grown to what we are today in Japan, and we are proud of Japan. That is why we are dedicated to becoming a world-class company that brings forth the best of industry and cultures of Japan that can compete with the rest of the world. Stay tuned to the future that we will build.
◼︎About Dinii Inc.
With the mission of “Making dining out fun and interesting,” Dinii develops products focused on mobile ordering and ID-POS for restaurants, with the goal of becoming the infrastructure for everyone’s dining out experience. By focusing on developing products for restaurants, based on a deep understanding of the every needs of restaurants, staff, and diners alike, we will harness technology to upgrade how restaurants are managed, and therefore transform the restaurant experience for all of us.
◼︎Company Information
Company Name: Dinii Inc.
Representative Director: Mao YAMADA
Date of Establishment: 20 June 2018
Address: 〒105-0023 Tokyo, Minato City, Shibaura, 1 Chome−1−1, Hamamatsucho Building, 15F