Yahoo Finance Japanese Rock Star Yoshiki Is Investing in Cloud Computing
(Bloomberg) -- Japanese rock star Yoshiki and software giant Salesforce.com Inc. are backing cloud consulting firm Uhuru Corp. in its next fundraising round, a person familiar with the plans said.
Tokyo-based Uhuru is planning to raise 15 million pounds ($20 million) to 20 million pounds, the person said, asking not to be identified because the plans are confidential. Salesforce, which currently holds 4.7%, and Yoshiki will be minority holders after the funding round, the person said.
Uhuru had planned to list on London’s Alternative Investment Market last year, but backed off after uncertainty over the U.K.’s plans to leave the European Union dampened interest in new issues. The company specializes in “digital transformation,” helping construct networks as well as offering data analytics, consulting and marketing services.
@YoshikiOfficial in a club in Tokyo. Japan is full of surprises. pic.twitter.com/wG5RW4G5i7
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) April 11, 2019
Yoshiki, a classical pianist and leader of the rock band X Japan, is friendly with Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff, who has tweeted clips of the two singing karaoke in Tokyo in April. Yoshiki, who’s been performing for more than 30 years, has played at the Lollapalooza and Coachella music festivals and at Carnegie Hall in New York.
No final decisions have been made and the backers could still decide against investing. Representatives for Uhuru, Yoshiki and Salesforce declined to comment.
The company lists its main shareholders as including SoftBank Group Corp., Dentsu Group Inc., NEC Corp. and Salesforce on its website. It generated $35 million in revenue in 2018, according to the Financial Times.
--With assistance from Nico Grant.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Hellier in London at dhellier@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Amy Thomson, Michael Hytha
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