ガレージバンク株式会社

Market position

The company positions cashari as the DX of the pawnshop model and states it was the first in Japan to build a lease-back service as an app, extending a lease-back structure previously used mainly by corporates for real estate and equipment to individual consumers and everyday goods. It is categorized as a fintech/financial startup at a business-model-establishment (middle) stage, operating at the intersection of fintech and the reuse market; joining the Komehyo Holdings group is framed as expanding the market framework through fintech plus reuse.

cashari lets users receive cash for an item while continuing to use it, with the entire application handled online and no in-person handover or shipping at the time of application; payouts can be taken at Seven Bank ATMs without registering an account. A mid-term cancellation feature allows users to end a contract at any time by returning the item, with no shipping or handling fees and with pickup and packing materials provided by Yamato Transport. The company describes valuing goods rather than credit history as the basis for consumer finance.

Technology

The cashari app uses image-based capture — photographing an item — to identify it and display an estimated asset value within a short time, covering categories such as digital gadgets, brand-name fashion items and automobiles. Vehicle valuation draws on System Location's vehicle-value calculation system under a capital and business alliance. The company has also begun developing a new risk assessment model using generative AI and unstructured data in collaboration with Sophia University. Sector tags applied to the company include image recognition, fintech and mobile apps.

Go-to-market

Distribution is direct-to-consumer through the cashari app and service site (cashari.jp), supplemented by alliances that add categories, capabilities and channels: Eco Ring for appraisal and distribution, Sompo Japan and Narnet Communications for auto insurance and maintenance, GeNiE for lending, AG住まいるリースバック for residential lease-back referrals, System Location for vehicle valuation, Lecto for receivables management and collection, and Demae-can for a courier-targeted van lease plan. Press releases, pitch competitions and award programs (Tokyo Financial Award, FINOPITCH) support visibility, and the company recruits for overseas expansion of the app.

Individual consumers in Japan who own items such as digital gadgets, brand-name fashion goods, cars and motorcycles and want to check their value or raise cash from them, including users seeking finance without reliance on credit-bureau information; also delivery couriers, via a light-van lease plan offered through Demae-can's courier support program. Corporate counterparties are engaged through business and capital alliances.

Geography

Operations are centered in Tokyo, Japan. The head office was in Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku at the time of the 2021 round, later at Sumitomo Fudosan Toranomon Tower in Toranomon, Minato-ku, and moved to Nishi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku (Toranomon Central Building 8F) effective 2026-07-01. The FINOPITCH 2025 JETRO Award recognized potential for expansion into overseas markets centered on Southeast Asia, and the company is recruiting a business development lead for international expansion of the lease-back app.

History

Founded January 2020, the company launched the open beta of cashari in November 2020 and raised approximately 45 million yen that month. It passed 10,000 users in August 2021, added a mid-term cancellation feature and support for GMO Payment Gateway's "こんど払い byGMO" deferred payment in July 2021, and closed a 100 million yen pre-Series A third-party allotment in October 2021, bringing cumulative funding to about 150 million yen. Partnerships followed with Lecto (2021, receivables management), Eco Ring (2023, appraisal and distribution), and Sompo Japan and Narnet Communications (2023, auto insurance and maintenance); my-car lease-back launched in June 2023 and a wallet function was added in June 2024. In late 2024 the company issued a corporate bond via Siiibo Securities, launched cashariマネー with GeNiE, and began a light-van lease plan for Demae-can couriers. In 2025 it partnered with AG住まいるリースバック, began joint development of a risk assessment model using generative AI and unstructured data with Sophia University, won awards at Tokyo Financial Award 2024 and FINOPITCH 2025, and concluded a capital and business alliance with System Location. In 2026 it announced relocation of its head office to Nishi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo effective 2026-07-01 and its entry into the Komehyo Holdings group.