Wilmington-based nCino is expanding to Japan through its partnership with Tokyo-based Japan Cloud, according to a news release Monday.

With the partnership, nCino has created a new subsidiary, nCino K.K., which will “meet the growing demands of financial institutions in Japan looking to digitally transform their operations and improve efficiency,” as stated in the release.

nCino’s expansion to Japan comes a few weeks after the company raised $80 million in funding, which officials said would be used for product innovation and global expansion.

"We are pleased to announce the commencement of operations in Japan affirming our commitment to this market," Pierre Naudé, CEO of nCino, said in the release. "As appetite for cloud technology has increased due to operational demands as well as growing customer expectations for faster, more convenient and innovative banking services, we are confident that Japan Cloud is the ideal partner to help us navigate this new market, build a successful business in the region and effectively deliver our Bank Operating System." 

Japan Cloud is a firm that helps software as a service businesses succeed in the Japanese market. It has helped build the Japanese operations of Salesforce and Oracle, among others, according to its website.

With its presence in Tokyo, nCino plans on establishing office space and adding employees.

“Consistent with our approach to establishing other offices in markets outside of the United States, our primary strategy for Japan is to hire local talent to ensure credibility and knowledge of the region,” nCino officials said in an email Monday. “We will complement that expertise by selectively seeding key roles from our headquarters in Wilmington.”

With this expansion, nCino, which is recognized as a “unicorn” for its valuation of over $1 billion, now operates in four continents.

Besides its headquarters in Wilmington, nCino has offices in Salt Lake City, Utah; Toronto; London; and Sydney.

Hidenori Tamua, finance industry and enterprise sales area vice president at Salesforce, a long-time investor in nCino, said nCino K.K. will bring expertise for financial institutions in Japan looking for technology to compete in the digital era.

"Japan is the third-largest economy in the world and there is a growing appetite from the leading financial institutions here to modernize their legacy systems amid evolving customer expectations and digital trends," Aruna Basnayake, CEO of Japan Cloud, said in the release. “… we believe there is significant potential for nCino's Bank Operating System in this region. nCino's strong reputation globally and Salesforce expertise makes us confident that nCino K.K. can have an immediate and lasting positive impact on financial services in Japan.”