What Kubell does

Kubell Co., Ltd. (株式会社kubell, ticker 4448 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market) is a Japanese business-to-business software platform company headquartered in Minami-aoyama, Tokyo. The company was founded in 2004 as Chatwork Co., Ltd., launched Japan's first mainstream business chat platform in April 2011, and rebranded to Kubell in July 2024 to reflect its evolution into a BPaaS (Business Process as a Service) platform company. As of December 2025, the group had 698 consolidated employees across three core operating subsidiaries: kubell (the Chatwork platform), kubell storage (SecureSAMBA cloud storage), and kubell partner (BPaaS operations including the Taxita service), with Atena Inc. added as a wholly owned subsidiary in April 2026.

The company operates two integrated revenue engines. The first is the Chatwork business chat platform, sold primarily through a freemium self-serve model (¥400/user/month for the Personal Plan) and ranked No.1 in Japan by monthly active users among 44 surveyed services, with approximately 886,000 SME customers and over 8.09 million registered user IDs. The second is the BPaaS portfolio, delivered through kubell partner and other subsidiaries, which combines AI and SaaS/API integrations (freee, Money Forward, SmartHR, KING OF TIME) with human specialists to outsource back-office functions such as accounting, payroll, HR, recruitment, sales administration, and now cloud mail digitization through Atena, typically priced on usage-based units of 10 hours. SecureSAMBA provides subscription-based business cloud storage with user-flat pricing and ransomware defense, while a new electronic payment services business line was added via Articles of Incorporation amendment in March 2026.

Kubell serves primarily Japan's 3.3 million SMEs that lack IT expertise and dedicated back-office staff, addressing labor shortages in administrative functions and productivity stagnation from manual processes. The group generates revenue from per-seat Chatwork subscriptions, usage-based BPaaS fees, SecureSAMBA subscriptions, and emerging fintech services, with very low monthly churn of 0.25% indicating strong customer retention. Geographic operations are 100% Japan-domiciled, and the company is publicly held with no controlling parent entity following its September 2019 IPO.

Name

Kubell

Legal name

株式会社kubell (kubell Co., Ltd.)

Website

https://kubell.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Kubell (TSE Growth: 4448) is a Japanese B2B software platform company operating Japan's largest business chat platform (Chatwork) and a BPaaS portfolio (Taxita, SecureSAMBA, Chatwork Mail Reception) that combines AI, SaaS integrations, and human specialists to outsource back-office functions for approximately 990,000 Japanese SMEs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Communication and BPaaS Software

NAICS

Office Administrative Services (5611), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Office Administrative Services (561110)

SIC

Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

iBPMS (Intelligent BPM Suites) & Process Automation Suites (HDAEAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Workflow & Case Management (Human-Centric BPM) (HDAEAHAA), Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) & Document Generation/Templating (HDAEAGAL), Billing, Payments & Account Administration Centers (BPAAAAAF)

Keywords

• Business chat platform
• BPaaS services
• Cloud storage solutions
• Back-office outsourcing
• Business communication tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Minami-aoyama

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Chatwork Subscription (Business Chat): Freemium model with free tier available and premium plans (personal plan at ¥400/user/month) providing advanced features. Revenue from conversion of free users to paid plans and seat expansions.
2. BPaaS (Business Process as a Service): Chat-based back-office outsourcing service (Taxita/Chatwork Assistant) charging for business process execution. Flexible 10-hour unit-based usage. Covers accounting, HR, recruitment, sales administration tasks.
3. SecureSAMBA Online Storage Subscription: Business and enterprise plans for online storage with unlimited user pricing model.
4. Electronic Payment Services: Following February 2026 board decision to amend articles for electronic payment services business expansion, new fintech revenue stream planned.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kubell operates Japan's largest business chat platform "Chatwork" with freemium and per-seat subscription plans, enabling business communication, task management, file sharing, and video/voice calling. The company also delivers BPaaS (Business Process as a Service) through its "Taxita" service, which combines AI and SaaS/API integrations with human operators to outsource SME back-office functions such as accounting, payroll, HR, recruitment, and invoice processing. Additional offerings include SecureSAMBA online storage with ransomware protection and Chatwork Mail Reception, a cloud-based corporate postal digitization service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chatwork

Quantifiable outcome

• Billing operations workload reduced by equivalent of 1 full-time employee per company (case study: 三喜運輸)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• atena株式会社 (Atena Inc.)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 April 2026Kubell acquired all shares of Atena Inc. (scheduled April 30, 2026), making it a wholly owned subsidiary. Atena operates cloud mail service 'atena' handling corporate mail digitization (receipt, scanning, PDF conversion, forwarding, disposal) with 100万+ mail pieces processed since 2020. Acquisition integrates mail operations into kubell's BPaaS portfolio alongside accounting, HR, and general affairs services.
• Electronic Payment Services Infrastructure PartnersminorOthersKubell decided in February 2026 to amend its Articles of Incorporation to include electronic payment services business, signaling strategic diversification into fintech. Specific partners for this new business line not yet disclosed.
• 社労士事務所 (Social Insurance Labor Consultant Offices)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributorkubell partner provides 'Taxita for 社労士' package specifically designed for social insurance labor consultant offices. These offices serve as distribution channels and end-users simultaneously, receiving specialized BPaaS support for routine back-office tasks while focusing on specialized legal advisory services.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Slack (Salesforce): Global business chat and channel-based collaboration platform. Direct peer in business messaging, competes with Chatwork in mid-market and enterprise segments of the Japanese market.
• LINE WORKS: LY Corporation's business chat and collaboration suite for Japanese SMEs. Direct competitor to Chatwork in Japan with comparable messaging, task, and video features, and overlaps in target customer segment.
• Zoom Communications: Global business communication platform with messaging, meetings, and contact center offerings. Overlaps Chatwork in video/voice calling and is part of the Nielsen 44-service competitive set.
• Microsoft Teams: Business chat, video, and collaboration platform bundled with Microsoft 365. One of the 44 services in kubell's Nielsen MAU benchmark and the most significant competitive threat in Japanese enterprise.

Emerging players

• Sansan: Japanese cloud-based business card and contract digitization platform (Eight, Bill One). Comparable document digitization angle to Atena and SecureSAMBA, and a major Japanese SaaS peer at scale.
• Money Forward: Japanese cloud accounting, HR, and back-office SaaS platform. Comparable back-office SaaS category to kubell's Taxita, with overlapping integrations and SME target segment.
• SmartHR: Japanese cloud HR and labor management SaaS serving SMEs. Comparable BPaaS-adjacent category; kubell's Taxita for Sharoshi package competes and partners with SmartHR-led HR workflows.
• freee: Japanese cloud accounting and HR SaaS for SMEs and freelancers. Comparable back-office SaaS category, integrates with kubell's Taxita BPaaS, and competes for the same SME IT budget.
• Asana: Global work management and project collaboration platform. Comparable task management and team coordination features to Chatwork's task functionality, competing for cross-functional workflow mindshare.
• Rakus: Japanese SaaS vendor offering Rakuraku Seisan (expense), Rakuraku Meishikan (business card), and other back-office tools for SMEs. Comparable back-office SaaS category to Taxita BPaaS.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kubellgroup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@kubell_official
• Facebookfacebook.com/kubellgroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Kubell