Coupa, Japan Cloud Team On Business Spend Management

San Mateo, California-based Coupa Software and Tokyo-based Japan Cloud are forming a joint venture called Coupa K.K. to expand adoption of Coupa’s Business Spend Management offering in Japan, according to a press release.

Coupa’s general manager will be Takashi Ozeki, who is coming to the venture from Japan Cloud, the release stated.

“We are honored to already call some of Japan’s leading companies such as Hitachi Transport, Sumisho Global Logistics, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group and Nippon Express our customers, and we look forward to deepening our ties with the broader local business community in the months and years ahead,” said Coupa Chairman and CEO Rob Bernshteyn in the release.

Japan Cloud’s business includes helping overseas companies scale in the sometimes tough-to-track Japanese market, according to the release. Among its clients are Salesforce, Marketo, New Relic, BlackLine, WalkMe, nCino and Braze.

“Smart spend management is a must-have for Japanese companies as they adapt to a world of remote work and complex supplier relationships,” said Japan Cloud CEO Aruna Basnayake in the release. “Japan Cloud is thrilled to partner with Coupa to play an active role in scaling their Japan operations and making their comprehensive Business Spend Management platform the standard for Japanese companies.”

Ozeki said in the release: “My vision has always been to help Japanese companies be at the forefront of digital transformation. With Coupa K.K., I look forward to helping the business community in Japan transform their supply chains and spend management practices to maximize the value of every dollar they spend.”

Coupa Executive Vice President Ravi Thakur told PYMNTS in January that systems to remove manual financial transactions are quickly gaining adoption throughout industry.

“The way we’re going to look at how companies move money five or 10 years from now, it’s not going to be a differentiator or an exception,” he said. “Right now, we’re providing a differentiator for organizations in terms of how they want to operate. But that’s evolving. That’s how businesses should operate.”