カケハシ (Kakehashi)

Kakehashi Inc. (株式会社カケハシ) is a Tokyo-headquartered healthcare technology company operating under the mission "Transforming Japan's Healthcare Experience with Agility" (日本の医療体験を、しなやかに。). Its core product, Musubi, is a cloud-based next-generation electronic medication record (電子薬歴) and patient-guidance tool for dispensing pharmacies, launched in August 2017. The company positions Musubi not solely as an efficiency tool but as a system supporting pharmacist education and pharmacist-patient communication, and states it has strengthened pharmacist-patient relationships, improved medication adherence, and enhanced pharmacy business performance.

Beyond the pharmacy software business, Kakehashi describes a vision of building an ecosystem that forms the foundation for future healthcare, extending from individual pharmacies to the wider pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Stated directions include patient engagement and follow-up to increase the value of drug treatment, the use of Personal Health Records (PHR) to address health beyond prescription drugs, and collaboration with pharmacies, wholesalers and pharmaceutical manufacturers to optimize drug distribution and stable supply. The company has been selected for a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) initiative on PHR utilization and runs joint research projects with medical institutions and universities. It also publishes a corporate note account and an engineering tech blog, and maintains a research-results section on its site.

Founding story

According to press coverage, Kakehashi was co-founded in March 2016 by CEO Nakao together with COO Takashi Nakagawa. Nakao grew up in a family of healthcare professionals and joined Takeda Pharmaceutical, working as a medical representative before co-founding the company. Nakagawa graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law and worked at McKinsey & Company on procurement, manufacturing and development optimization in the manufacturing and high-tech industries, as well as acquisitions and post-merger integration, on projects in the UK, India and the US, before co-founding Kakehashi.

Business model

Kakehashi sells proprietary software to dispensing pharmacies in Japan on a SaaS basis, with an initial implementation fee charged at deployment. Coverage of the Series B reported that customer acquisition cost was recovered through this initial deployment fee, and that adoption at one store tends to spread horizontally to other stores within the same pharmacy chain. Working capital needs are significant because of terminal (device) purchase costs and receivables collection cycles associated with rolling out Musubi.

Revenue derives from software provided to dispensing pharmacies, combining an initial implementation fee with ongoing subscription usage; the company reports very low churn since launch and, as of the Series B period, monthly growth of over 10 percent in the preceding six months.

Traction

Musubi launched in August 2017; by the Series B in October 2019 the company reported monthly growth above 10% over the prior six months and only a handful of customer cancellations since launch. By June 2025, the platform covered over 14,000 pharmacy locations, more than 20% of Japanese pharmacies. Kakehashi has been selected for a METI PHR utilization initiative and, in 2026, for an AMED-funded project running a large-scale demonstration involving roughly 900 cases linking hospitals, pharmacies and patients through PHR.

Latest developments

In June 2025 Kakehashi announced a Series D of approximately $97 million (JPY 14 billion) led by Goldman Sachs, structured as a third-party share allotment plus secondary share transfers by existing shareholders, venture debt and loans, with proceeds directed at M&A, emerging technologies and hiring. In June 2026 the company announced the appointment of a new executive officer CFO and a Chief Legal Officer, and announced Pharmacy Leaders Day 2026 for 8 July 2026, marking its 10th anniversary, with speakers including former Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. In July 2026 it began a large-scale demonstration under an AMED-adopted project to close gaps in care contact for outpatient cancer patients, connecting hospitals, pharmacies and patients and validating PHR implementation at a scale of about 900 cases.