KKR leads $60.6m funding in Japan’s largest QR code payment gateway Netstars Image from Netstars website. April 14, 2021 Netstars Co Ltd, the operator of Japan’s largest QR code payment gateway, has raised 6.6 billion yen ($60.6 million) in its latest funding round led by private equity giant KKR & Co, according to an announcement. KKR made a 4 billion yen investment through funds it manages. Hong Kong-based investment firms SIG and LUN Partners also participated in the round, which was made through a combination of capital infusion and allotment of new shares. Netstars, a payments aggregator and fintech company headquartered in Tokyo, operates StarPay, a payments aggregation solution that integrates payment providers into a single device or software platform.