Funding working capital with unsecured, unguaranteed bank debt — about ¥40.3bn raised in total (2023)

A capital policy that turned a weakness into the argument

Explaining unsecured, unguaranteed borrowing at under 1% interest as simply the reward for good results makes the reasoning too easy. With equity funding across the market down 27.3% year on year, the heart of Timee’s ability to borrow was that it turned the weakness of its business — cash going out first, because workers are paid the same day — into the argument it made to lenders. A growing advance is also evidence that transaction value is growing, and CFO Yagi Tomoaki, formerly of MUFG Bank, was in a position to put that reframing into a bank’s own language.

That said, the policy did not bring lightness alone. Interest-bearing debt of $56.6M (¥8bn) at the October 2023 year-end exceeded equity of $44.1M (¥6bn): money carrying an obligation to repay stood thicker than shareholders’ capital. Unlike equity, debt keeps its repayment dates even when transaction value slows. That the founder still held just over 19% of the shares after listing is a result obtained by shouldering that repayment pressure.