Zeals Co., Ltd. (Zeals), a Japan-based Chat Commerce provider, announced Thursday that it has raised a total of ¥5 billion ($38.77 million) in funding.
JIC Venture Growth Investments led the ¥3.5 billion ($27.14 million) Series E round with participation from Z Venture Capital, a venture investment arm of Z Holdings, Japan Post Capital, and Salesforce Ventures, Zeals said in a statement.
Concurrently, Zeals has also established debt facilities with Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and MUFG Bank, Ltd. in aggregate of ¥1.5 billion ($11.63 million).
The funds from this round will be used to accelerate new products development, implement rapidly evolving NLG technologies, diversify go-to-market channels, and support expansion in the overseas markets.
By applying science to conversations, Zeals said it will continue its unique approach to conversational commerce with an acute focus on customer experience.
The company will further expand the service offerings of chat commerce and take on the challenge of the “Omotenashi Revolution”, a vision to bring the Japanese customer service quality to the world through the power of technology.
According to the statement, Chat Commerce, also known as conversational commerce, is redefining how large enterprises engage with their customers and enabling them to transact through chat applications.
Consumers are increasingly relying on messaging apps for all forms of communication and conversational commerce is opening a new era of e-commerce.
Cited Juniper Research report, Zeals said that total spend over conversational commerce channels will reach $290 billion by 2025, with North Asia accounting for 90 percent of this chatbot spend.
As a pioneer in this market, it said Zeals is leading the introduction of Chat Commerce to large enterprises in a range of industries including cosmetics, food, human resources, education, telecommunications, automobiles, finance, real estate, fashion, and entertainment.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it said many brands have expedited their plans to optimize the online channel experience, a trend that has fueled Zeals’ growth and solidified the dominance in the Japan conversational commerce market.
FamilyMart makes strategic investment in Japanese e-scooter sharing firm Luup