What KAKEHASHI does

KAKEHASHI Inc. (株式会社カケハシ) is a Tokyo-based healthtech company founded March 30, 2016, that develops and operates Musubi, a cloud-based SaaS platform for digital transformation of Japan's dispensing pharmacies. The company targets Japan's approximately 60,000 dispensing pharmacies operating within an ~8 trillion yen market, with its platform collectively covering more than 14,000 pharmacy stores across all 47 prefectures through five group companies. The platform combines electronic medication records, AI-powered voice-to-text medication history generation (deployed May 2026 as a standard feature), LINE-based automated patient follow-up (Pocket Musubi) with over 100,000 pharmacist-authored question variations, pharmacy business intelligence (Musubi Insight), and AI-driven pharmaceutical inventory management. The architecture is built on AWS infrastructure and complies with the Japan Pharmaceutical Association's NSIPS interoperability standard for receipt computer integration, plus exPD data migration standards for switching from competing electronic pharmacy record systems.

The business model is primarily a monthly subscription SaaS revenue stream, sold all-in-one with no per-feature add-ons and no 5-year renewal fees, supplemented by government IT introduction subsidy facilitation that can cover up to 50% of system costs over two years. The go-to-market combines product-led growth (direct website sales, downloadable resources, inquiry forms), an enterprise field sales motion targeting larger pharmacy chains and franchise operators, and event-driven demand generation anchored by the annual Pharmacy Leaders Day conference (July 2026 featuring former BOJ Governor Kuroda Haruhiko and BCG leadership). Customer success is delivered through a 100% telephone response-rate support desk, and the award-winning MusuViva! user community drives organic peer referrals among pharmacists.

The company is led by co-founders Yutaka Nakao (Representative Director, CEO) and Takashi Nakagawa (Representative Director, CEO, formerly McKinsey). In March 2026 it appointed six new executive officers including a CCO and VP of Data & AI, followed by a new CFO and CLO in June 2026 — signals consistent with organizational scaling toward a potential capital event. KAKEHASHI has raised approximately $96.7M in a Series C led by Goldman Sachs in June 2025 and has pursued a compound strategy combining organic product development with M&A, acquiring companies in secondary distribution, POS registers, and receipt computer domains to expand beyond the core Musubi platform.

Name

KAKEHASHI

Legal name

株式会社カケハシ

Website

https://kakehashi.life

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

KAKEHASHI is a Japanese healthtech company providing Musubi, a cloud-based SaaS platform for electronic pharmacy records, AI-powered voice medication history, automated patient follow-up, and inventory management, serving over 14,000 dispensing pharmacies across Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pharmacy SaaS (Electronic Medication Records)

NAICS

Pharmacies and Drug Retailers (456110), Pharmacies and Drug Retailers (45611)

SIC

Retail-Drug Stores And Proprietary Stores (5912)

akta.pro primary industry

Pharmacy Information Systems (PIS) & Dispensing Workflow (HLACAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pharmacy/Medication Management & Virtual MTM (Payer-Sponsored) (HLALACAK), Medication Inventory, Procurement & Supply Chain (Pharmacy) (HLACAKAI), Telepharmacy & Prescription Fulfillment Marketplaces (HLALALAF)

Keywords

• Pharmacy SaaS platform
• Electronic medication records
• Pharmacy digital transformation
• Healthcare AI solutions
• Patient engagement software

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription - Musubi Electronic Pharmacy Records: Cloud-based electronic pharmacy record system (Musubi) as core SaaS product. Sold as subscription with monthly fees. All features included in base plan. No 5-year renewal fees. No per-feature add-on charges.
2. SaaS Subscription - Additional Modules: Additional modules including Pocket Musubi (patient follow-up), Musubi Insight (business intelligence), and Musubi AI Inventory Management. Sold as integrated suite or potentially as add-ons to core Musubi subscription.
3. IT Introduction Subsidy Support: Assists pharmacies in applying for Japanese government IT introduction subsidies (IT導入補助金), which can cover up to 50% of system costs over 2 years. This government program effectively subsidizes customer acquisition costs and reduces barriers to adoption.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

KAKEHASHI develops and operates Musubi, a cloud-based electronic pharmacy record (EHR) SaaS platform for Japan's dispensing pharmacies. The platform combines electronic medication records, AI-powered voice-to-text medication history generation, automated patient follow-up (Pocket Musubi), business intelligence dashboards (Musubi Insight), and AI-driven inventory management in a unified subscription offering. The company serves over 14,000 pharmacy stores across all 47 Japanese prefectures.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Musubi: クラウド型電子薬歴サービス。服薬指導、業務効率化をサポートする主力プロダクト。
• Pocket Musubi
• Musubi Insight
• Musubi AI在庫管理
• おくすり連絡帳

Products and services

• Musubi (Electronic Pharmacy Record System) Cloud-based electronic pharmacy record (EHR) SaaS for Japanese dispensing pharmacies, providing medication guidance records, patient medication history, prescription processing workflows, and integration with pharmacy computer systems via NSIPS compliance. Includes an AI Assistant voice medication history generation feature as a standard capability.
• Pocket Musubi (Patient Follow-up System) LINE-based automated patient follow-up service delivering situation-specific questions during the medication period based on prescription data. Includes over 100,000 question variations created by in-house pharmacists, automated screening of patients requiring pharmacist intervention, and alerts for medication adherence, side effects, and lifestyle guidance.
• Musubi Insight (Pharmacy Business Intelligence) Cloud-based business intelligence dashboard providing real-time visibility into pharmacy operations. Tracks prescription processing times, medication history creation times (S/O/A/P analysis), generic substitution rates, employee productivity metrics, and other KPIs to enable data-driven management decisions.
• Musubi AI Inventory Management AI-powered pharmaceutical inventory management using high-precision patient visit prediction to replace intuition-based procurement with data-driven ordering. Aims to reduce dead stock and stockout situations for dispensing pharmacies.
• Okusuri Renrakucho (おくすり連絡帳 / Electronic Medication Handbook) Patient-facing mobile application (Android/iOS) that functions as an electronic medication handbook, supporting patient self-management of medication records.
• Pharmarket Pharmacy-related B2B service operated by wholly-owned group subsidiary 株式会社Pharmarket, offering products and services for the Japanese pharmacy industry.
• MusuViva! (User Community) User community platform for pharmacists using Musubi, providing study sessions, exchange events, and peer learning opportunities. Recognized with the Commuune Community AWARD for community building.
• AI Assistant Voice Medication History Generation (AIアシスタントー音声薬歴生成機能ー) Generative AI feature that automatically transcribes pharmacist-patient conversations during medication guidance into medication history records. Supports dual recording modes (patient dialogue mode for counseling conversations and pharmacist monologue mode for personal notes) and was developed with in-house pharmacist domain expertise for clinical accuracy.
• Healthcare Communication Content Service (医療・健康情報コンテンツ) Pharmacist-edited healthcare and medical information content service delivering curated medical information to patients via LINE and in-app patient follow-up channels.

Quantifiable outcome

• Medication history documentation time reduced to zero for some users within 1 month of adoption
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration19 records

AI capability11 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Pharmacy Leaders Day 2026 PartnersflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 23 June 2026Annual flagship conference 'Pharmacy Leaders Day 2026' (July 8, 2026) features partnerships with industry leaders. Speakers include former Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda Haruhiko, Boston Consulting Group Managing Director Matthew Cooper, Ministry of Finance officials, and executives from major healthcare groups including Sogo Iryo Medical Group and Regional Healthcare Coordination Foundation.
• PHC Corporation (PHCレセコン)coreTechnology or IntegrationPHC Corporation offers an integrated package combining Musubi electronic pharmacy records with PHC's Pharnes series receipt computers (レセプトコンピュータ). This bundled offering provides a seamless experience for pharmacies using PHC systems, enabling simplified procurement and unified support for both electronic pharmacy records and pharmacy computer functions.
• exPD (電子薬歴データ交換仕様に関する連絡協議会)coreTechnology or IntegrationKAKEHASHI is a member of the exPD council (Electronic Pharmacy Record Data Exchange Specification Council), enabling data migration from competing electronic pharmacy record systems. This membership allows Musubi to accept data transfers from other exPD member systems, reducing switching friction for pharmacies migrating to Musubi.
• NSIPS (日本調和師会推奨の薬局向けコンピュータ間連携システム)coreTechnology or IntegrationMusubi complies with NSIPS (Nihon Yakkyoku Kai Shared Specification) standards proposed by the Japan Pharmaceutical Association. This enables integration with various pharmacy computer systems that are NSIPS-compliant, ensuring interoperability across the pharmacy technology ecosystem.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• PHC Holdings (PHC Corporation): Dominant Japanese medical and pharmacy IT hardware/software vendor, maker of the Pharnes receipt computer line that integrates with Musubi. Most direct competitor in Japanese pharmacy IT, with a much larger installed base and bundled offering.
• EM Systems Co., Ltd. Listed Japanese pharmacy computer system vendor serving thousands of dispensing pharmacies with receipt computers, electronic medication records, and pharmacy operations software — direct competitor in the same Japanese pharmacy IT category.
• Nihon Ultmarc Inc. (Smart Health): Japanese pharmacy information system vendor providing receipt computers and pharmacy management solutions to dispensing pharmacies nationwide; competes head-to-head with Musubi for the same pharmacy IT wallet.
• Toho Holdings (TOSHO): Major Japanese pharmaceutical wholesaler that also operates pharmacy IT operations and serves dispensing pharmacies across Japan. Combines distribution and IT — comparable adjacency to KAKEHASHI's secondary distribution M&A build-out.

Broad incumbents

• McKesson Corporation: US-headquartered global healthcare and pharmacy services giant offering distribution, technology, and pharmacy management solutions at scale. Adjacent as a broad incumbent in pharmacy IT/services rather than a Japanese SaaS specialist.
• Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen): US pharmaceutical distribution and pharmacy services company with significant technology offerings. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving pharmacies with integrated tech + distribution services, though operating at a much larger scale.
• Cardinal Health: US healthcare products and pharmacy services distributor with at-scale pharmacy technology offerings. Broad incumbent analog to KAKEHASHI's pharmacy value-chain play, but US-focused and much larger.
• Omnicell: US-listed medication management technology company providing pharmacy automation, inventory, and adherence solutions to hospitals and retail pharmacies — adjacent comparable in pharmacy workflow automation.

Regional players

• Sogo Iryo Medical Group: Japanese healthcare group combining hospital, clinic, and pharmacy operations. Regional pharmacy operator with in-house operational technology needs comparable to the pharmacy customers KAKEHASHI serves in Japan.

Emerging players

• RxNT: US-based emerging healthtech vendor offering ePrescribing, EHR, and pharmacy software. Comparable in product category (ePrescribing / pharmacy IT) but at smaller scale and without Japan's pharmacy-specific domain depth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kakehashiPR
• Facebookfacebook.com/KAKEHASHI.Inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds8 records

Investors27 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KAKEHASHI