A Japanese start-up that wants to replace traditional email has raised 12.5 million US dollars to expand internationally.
ChatWork is a messaging app for professionals that allows users to message each other individually or as a group, share files, manage tasks and make audio and video calls.
It currently has 86,000 companies using its app, mainly in Japan where it makes up 70% of the business messaging app market.
It plans to use the investment money to expand into the US, India and South East Asia.
It will face competition in the US market where rival app Slack already has a foothold in the market. ChatWork remains confident it will succeed, however, due to its simpler interface and more filtering options, with companies being able to grant clients access to some areas but not others.Â
