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HENNGE Invests as Lead Investor in Pre-Series A round of kickflow, Inc., the Provider of Cloud Workflow “kickflow” 2023.08.18

HENNGE K.K (headquarters: Shibuya, Tokyo, Representative Director, Chief Executive Officer: Kazuhiro Ogura, “HENNGE”) is pleased to announce that the company will invest as the lead investor in the pre-series A round on the premise of our business alliance with kickflow, Inc. (headquarters: Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chief Executive Officer: Taito Shigematsu, “kickflow”). This business alliance is based on the premise that HENNGE will sell "kickflow" to users of the "HENNGE One" cloud security service, and discussions are currently underway.

In recent years, with the diversification of work styles and the promotion of hybrid work, there is a growing need for cloud-based workflows that enable efficient approval and decision-making without the use of paper and seals. “Kickflow”, a cloud workflow, provided by kickflow, is highly regarded for its ability to speed up the approval process and reduce the person-hours required by managers, as well as for its flexible integration with other tools. Since its launch in 2020, it has been rapidly adopted by major companies.

HENNGE, which promotes the improvement of corporate productivity through the development and sale of HENNGE One, invested in kickflow in February 2022, believing that they could create business synergies by providing services for corporate information system departments. Subsequently, HENNGE One users have shown a need for kickflow; under the belief that leveraging the strengths of both companies will lead to improved corporate productivity in a wide range of fields, HENNGE decided to make additional investments based on the premise of concluding a business alliance agreement. The business alliance is currently based on the premise that HENNGE will become a distributor of kickflow and sell kickflow to HENNGE One users. Details will be announced as soon as they are determined.

Through this investment, HENNGE will provide multi-faceted management support and reinforcement for further business development of kickflow, Inc.

Comments from Mr. Taito Shigematsu, CEO of kickflow, Inc.
The main reason we raised funds from HENNGE, a listed company, in the previous round was that we expected support in terms of both knowledge and assets from a senior company.
* Explanation of the previous round note: ttps://note.com/taitodada/n/n700179850d00

At the time, we were concerned that the plan would only be “a pie in the sky”, but with the tremendous support we received from Mr. Kawaminami of HENNGE and members from each department, we were able to grow kickflow significantly. Thank you for thinking highly of our achievements, and making investment as the lead investor in this Pre-Series A round.

Although "business alliances" do not always produce immediate results, and there are many ups and downs, we aim to make this a good example of collaboration between a listed business company and a startup.

Comments from Mr. Shota Kawaminami, Executive Officer of HENNGE K.K.
As the lead investor in kickflow’s Pre-series A round, HENNGE is pleased to lead this round. Since last year’s round of investment, I have had weekly meetings with Mr. Shigematsu of kickflow in order to discuss and implement management, organizational, sales and marketing strategies. Over that time, kickflow itself has grown and expanded the company's sales significantly. This time, we are now looking forward to building a stronger relationship, and establishing a business alliance on the premise that HENNGE will become a sales agent for kickflow. HENNGE will continue to support and contribute to kickflow’s growth and development.

■ About “kickflow”, the next-generation cloud workflow for large corporations
kickflow is the “next-generation approval and workflow SaaS” that has been rapidly adopted by major companies in the last “2 years” since its first launch. Based on interviews with hundreds of companies, kickflow tackles the issues faced by major corporations, such as “operational burden”, “personalization”, and “difficulty in use” (UI/UX). It frees the IT departments from maintenance work and facilitates the advancement of DX.
URL：https://kickflow.com/

■ About kickflow, Inc.
Company name: kickflow, Inc.
Location: KS Floor, Risona Kudan Building 5F, 1-5-6 Kudan Minami, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Taito Shigematsu
Business content: Planning, development, operation and sales of “kickflow”

■ About HENNGE K.K.
HENNGE K.K. was established in November 1996. It is a SaaS company, guided by the philosophy of "liberation of technology to change the world" and it develops and sells unique services that bridge the gap between technology and reality. HENNGE provides "HENNGE One", a one-stop cloud security service enabling consolidated IDs and passwords management of multiple cloud services, "Customers Mail Cloud" which is a cloud email distribution service, and "SumaMachi", which is an interactive communication service between local government bodies and their residents. Since October 2019, HENNGE had been listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), Mothers, and then, a transition was made to the TSE Growth in April, 2022.
The company name "HENNGE" originated from the Japanese character for transformation, 'HENNKA' and 'CHALLENGE', which represents its commitment to keep challenging against every change we encounter.

Company name: HENNGE K.K. (securities code: 4475)
Address: Daiwa Shibuya Square, 16-28 Nanpeidaicho, Shibuya City, Tokyo
Representative: Kazuhiro Ogura (Representative Director, Chief Executive Officer)
URL: https://hennge.com/

■ Contact information for inquiries regarding this press
HENNGE K.K.
Corporate Communication Division
Email: info@hennge.com
TEL: 03-6415-3660
Person in charge: Yano

*The names of companies, products and services mentioned in this press are trademarks or registered trademarks of HENNGE.K.K. or other related organizations.