KAERU

What KAERU does

KAERU株式会社 (KAERU Inc.) is a Tokyo-based welfare-fintech company founded in October 2020 that issues a Mastercard-affiliated prepaid card paired with a smartphone and web app enabling elderly and cognitively impaired individuals to shop independently while family members or caregivers monitor usage remotely. The platform is built on payment infrastructure co-developed with TOMOWEL Payment Service Co., Ltd. (with support from Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS and Mastercard), and the app integrates Firebase, Datadog RUM, and AppsFlyer for analytics and observability. The product portfolio comprises three core SKUs sharing the same prepaid card infrastructure: KAERU for individuals and families, KAERU Biz 介護・障害福祉 (Care/Disability Welfare) for care facilities and group homes, and KAERU Biz 権利擁護 (Rights Protection) for social welfare councils and professional adult guardians. Differentiated features include remote card charging, daily/weekly/monthly spending caps, real-time transaction notifications, smart auto-recharge with skip logic, IC chip card support, role-based account management with operation logs and approval workflows, and card suspension/recovery on loss.

KAERU operates a multi-segment B2C/B2B/B2G go-to-market. Revenue is generated through transaction fees on card spending (KAERU consumer product), monthly subscription-style fees per facility or organization for KAERU Biz products (quote-based pricing that varies by number of users and use case), and interchange/settlement fees on auto-recharge transactions. Distribution combines direct-to-consumer website sign-up, enterprise direct sales with free online consultation for care facilities, government and social welfare council partnerships, and a growing regional bank channel where investors double as distribution partners (Akita Bank Group/Akigin NEXT Fund, Tama Shinkin Bank, Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank via OKB Capital). The company has accumulated a national footprint spanning Fukuoka, Kyoto, Niigata, Osaka, Shizuoka, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Fukui, Niigata, Oita, Shimane, Tokyo, and Nara prefectures, with named enterprise customers including disability group homes and elderly care facilities plus designated-city social welfare council contracts in Fukuoka, Kyoto, and Niigata.

The company has raised approximately ¥270 million in disclosed funding (¥140M pre-Series A in March 2022 and ~¥130M in August 2024) plus undisclosed rounds from regional bank funds in 2026, with notable investors including W ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, FINOLAB, Kanpo NEXT Partners, Tsukui Capital, OKB Capital, Meinan M&A, United Corporation, and Tamashin/Akigin regional funds. Recognition includes the Tokyo Financial Award 2022 1st place in Financial Innovation, METI Orange Innovation Excellence Award (2023, 2025), Forbes Japan Next Generation Impact Startup 30 (2025), and Nikkei Cross Trend 100 Companies Creating Future Markets (2023, 2026). Headcount remains 1-10, indicating that the business is still founder-led and pre-scale despite the breadth of partnerships and awards.

Name

KAERU

Legal name

KAERU株式会社

Website

https://kaeru-inc.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

KAERU is a Tokyo-based welfare-fintech company that issues a Mastercard prepaid card with smartphone remote-monitoring features, serving elderly individuals with cognitive decline, families, care and disability welfare facilities, social welfare councils, and adult guardians across Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Welfare Cashless Payments

NAICS

Credit Card Issuing (522210), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Recurring Billing, Subscriptions & Tokenized Payments (CRAFALAH), BNPL Card / Virtual Card Programs (FSAKACAC)

Keywords

• Prepaid card services
• Welfare cashless payments
• Elderly care fintech
• Monitoring payment cards
• Social welfare payments

Headquarters

HQ city

Chuo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Prepaid Card Usage Fees: KAERU earns fees from card usage (spending transactions) on the Mastercard network, as the issuer of Mastercard-affiliated prepaid cards. Revenue is generated per transaction on the KAERU prepaid card.
2. Monthly/Billing Service Fees (KAERU Biz): KAERU Biz for care facilities and welfare organizations is billed per usage/facility. Pricing is quote-based and varies by number of users and use case. Monthly fees are charged for the B2B support platform.
3. Auto-recharge / Smart Deposit Fees: Smart auto-recharge via bank account transfer generates fee income. While the auto-recharge itself is described as free for users, KAERU earns interchange or settlement fees on the top-up transactions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

KAERU operates a welfare-focused cashless payment platform built on a Mastercard-affiliated prepaid card paired with a smartphone/web companion app. The service enables elderly and cognitively impaired individuals to shop independently at Mastercard merchants while family members or caregivers monitor transactions remotely, set spending limits, and recharge the card. The company also offers B2B versions—KAERU Biz 介護・障害福祉 for care facilities and KAERU Biz 権利擁護 for social welfare councils and adult guardians—to digitize cash management and reconciliation workflows.

Product overview

KAERU is an age-tech / fintech company offering a modular welfare cashless payment platform consisting of a Mastercard-affiliated prepaid card paired with smartphone and web companion applications. The portfolio comprises three core offerings: (1) the KAERU personal/family prepaid card for individuals with cognitive decline, enabling independent shopping with family monitoring; (2) KAERU Biz 介護・障害福祉 for care and disability welfare facilities to replace resident cash deposits and advance payments with digital fund management; and (3) KAERU Biz 権利擁護 for social welfare councils and adult guardianship professionals to manage beneficiaries' finances at scale. All three products share the same underlying Mastercard prepaid card infrastructure and companion apps, differentiated by the target user segment (individual vs. facility vs. organization) and the management dashboard features. Feature modules include the Partner Function for family remote support, IC chip card with smart auto-recharge, per-staff permission management for organizations, and balance confirmation tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KAERU Biz 介護・障害福祉: Cashless money management service for care and disability welfare facilities. Provides prepaid card issuance per resident, reducing cash management burden, loss risks, and audit workload.
• KAERU Biz 権利擁護
• KAERU（かえる）アシスタントプリカ

Products and services

• KAERU (かえる) — Personal / Family Assistant Prepaid Card A Mastercard-affiliated prepaid card paired with a smartphone app that enables elderly or cognitively impaired individuals to shop cashlessly at Mastercard merchants while family members or caregivers monitor usage, set spending limits, and remotely charge balances.
• KAERU Biz 介護・障害福祉 (Care / Disability Welfare) A prepaid card-based cashless money management service for elderly and disability welfare facilities, replacing resident cash deposits and advance payments with digital fund management, automated reconciliation, and audit-ready transaction logs.
• KAERU Biz 権利擁護 (Rights Protection) A cashless service for social welfare councils and adult guardianship professionals to manage beneficiaries' finances using Mastercard prepaid cards with remote charging, spending caps, per-staff permission controls, operation logs, and approval workflows.

Quantifiable outcome

• One care facility achieved approximately 60 hours per month in time savings by eliminating cash counting, ledger work, and reconciliation.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• tocotoco株式会社coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2026KAERU partnered with tocotoco株式会社 (Japan's one of the largest disability group home franchises with nationwide network of 400 corporations and 1,200 facilities) to standardly introduce KAERU's welfare cashless money management to newly opened group homes and sequentially expand to existing homes, enabling cashless financial management for residents.
• 株式会社ヴィンテージ (Vintage Co., Ltd.)coreTechnology or Integration · 14 November 2023KAERU partnered with Vintage (welfare administration IT systems provider with approximately 350 organizational clients and over 50% market share in designated cities and Tokyo 23 wards) to integrate KAERU's 権利擁護 service with Vintage's welfare administration systems, promoting DX of social welfare council and adult guardian operations.
• セコム暮らしのパートナー久我山 (Secom Kurashi no Partner Kuniokayayama)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 October 2022Secom partnered with KAERU for a pilot experiment connecting KAERU's cashless shopping card with Secom's communication robot BOCCO to provide a richer shopping experience for elderly people living alone, using BOCCO for balance notifications and post-shopping encouragement.
• TOMOWEL Payment Service株式会社 (co-development)coreTechnology or Integration · 21 December 2021TOMOWEL Payment Service Co., Ltd. co-developed the KAERU prepaid card service with KAERU, providing the underlying payment infrastructure and Mastercard network affiliation. Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS and Mastercard also provided cooperation.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Money Forward: Japan's largest mid-market fintech platform providing personal finance, business accounting, and payments. Operates broadly in Japanese fintech and could plausibly extend into welfare cashless if it chose, making it a broad incumbent rather than a direct niche competitor.
• PayPay (Z Holdings / SoftBank): Japan's dominant mobile payment platform. Could trivially extend spending limits and family monitoring features into the elderly segment, representing a structural threat to KAERU's niche if it chooses to do so.

Direct peers

• Current: US-based prepaid card with family monitoring features, spending limits, and real-time notifications. Closest international product analogue to KAERU's personal/family prepaid card, combining a prepaid card with remote parental/guardian monitoring controls.
• Greenlight: US fintech offering prepaid debit cards with parental controls, spending limits, and real-time notifications. Highly relevant analogue for KAERU's core product model of a prepaid card with remote monitoring by a responsible party.
• Kyash: Japan-based prepaid card issuer and consumer payment app. Both KAERU and Kyash issue prepaid cards on Mastercard rails in Japan, but Kyash targets general consumers and is a direct peer in the prepaid card issuing space rather than in the welfare/elderly monitoring niche.
• GoHenry: UK-based prepaid card with parental controls and spending limits, similar to Greenlight. Comparable to KAERU's prepaid card with family monitoring, though targeting minors rather than the elderly — illustrates the same underlying product template applied to a vulnerable demographic.

Emerging players

• Welby: Japan-based health and care management app platform for patients and elderly users with chronic conditions. Comparable to KAERU in serving Japanese elderly/healthcare users via digital fintech-like services, though focused on health records rather than cashless payments.
• SmartBank: Japanese consumer fintech offering prepaid debit card and banking app. Competitor in Japan's broader prepaid card market but does not serve the welfare/elderly niche that KAERU targets.
• Origami (now Merpay/Ori): Japan-based QR payment and consumer fintech. Operates in the Japanese prepaid/consumer payment space adjacent to KAERU, though not focused on the welfare or elderly demographic.

Regional players

• Vieureka (Mastercard / regional banks JV): Operates in Japan welfare/healthcare payments through regional bank partnerships. Focused on inclusive payment infrastructure for elderly and vulnerable users in Japan, sharing the same MasterCard network and overlapping target demographic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kaeru_assistant
• Facebookfacebook.com/kaeru.application

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors7 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 KAERU