[The Bridge] Japan’s crowdsourcing/rewards platform operator Realworld files...
Tokyo-based Realworld, the company that operates a crowdsourcing/rewards platform in Japan, has announced that it has been approved for an IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market on Friday. The...
View Article[The Bridge] KDDI acquires J-pop culture and entertainment news site Natalie
Japan’s leading telco KDDI announced today that it has acquired a 90% stake in Natasha, the Tokyo-based company behind popular J-pop culture and entertainment news site Natalie. Since its launch back...
View Article[Tech In Asia] Japanese market research startup gets $2.2 million in fresh...
Research & Innovation, a Japanese startup which specializes in market research support, announced today that it has received JPY 220 million (US$2.12 million) in funding from Mizuho Capital, Jafco,...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s excursion buddy and destination discovery site Vivit...
Tokyo-based startup Vivit launched an excursion buddy and destination discovery site under the same name last week. The startup participated in the sixth edition of Incubate Camp, an intensive two-day...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s financial advisory startup Zuu secures $1 million in...
Tokyo-based Zuu, the startup that operates financial advisor matching platform Zuu Advisors, announced today that it has fundraised 105 million yen (about $1 million) from four angel investors...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s invoicing solution startup MakeLeaps secures $600K...
Tokyo-based MakeLeaps, the startup behind a cloud-based invoicing platform under the same name, announced today that it has raised $600,000 through AngelList. Participating investors in this round...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s Uzabase to announce $4.5M funding to boost curated news...
Japan’s Nikkei reported this morning that Tokyo-based Uzabase, the startup behind curated news app NewsPicks and company/industry database service Speeda, will announce on September 1st that it has...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s content marketing agency Innova raises $2.1M from...
Tokyo-based SEO and content marketing agency Innova announced today that it has fundraised 220 million yen (about $2.1 million) from Salesforce.com, Draper Nexus, and Nippon Venture Capital. Since its...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s keyword linking tech developer Studio Ousia raises $1M...
Japan’s Studio Ousia, a startup developing keyword mining and linking solutions, announced Tuesday that it has fundraised 100 million yen ($1 million) from Tokyo-based system integration company NID...
View ArticleOpt Invest In Jimoty, Classified Site / MarkeZine
Opt invests in a classified site, Jimoty taking 45.4% share. Jimoty allows users to meet directly each other in their local to do deals such as selling and buyinh goods or recruiting. Monthly PV is...
View Article[WSJ] Whill Raises $11 Million Series A for High-Performance ‘Wheelchair’
Don’t call it a wheelchair. It is an “omnidirectional four-wheel-drive mobility device” designed and built by veterans of the automotive industry. The company behind it, Whill Inc., has just raised an...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s nail art startup MiCHi fundraises from leading cosmetics...
Tokyo-based iStyle (TSE:3360), the company behind Japan’s leading online cosmetics portal @Cosme, announced today that it has invested an undisclosed sum in MiCHi, a startup providing an e-commerce...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s food delivery startup Dely secures second round funding...
Tokyo-based startup Dely, a food delivery service operating in Tokyo, announced today that it has fundraised an undisclosed sum from Japanese seed investor Anri. This follows their seed funding in July...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s Relux raises $3.1 million, enhances hotel booking site...
Tokyo-based Loco partners, the startup that operates Japanese luxury inn and hotel booking site Relux, announced today that it has fundraised 330 million yen (about $3.1 million) from Recruit Holdings...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s weight-loss startup FiNC fundraises, appoints former...
FiNC is a Tokyo startup that provides online weight loss and dietary advice based on a scientific approach such as genetic testing. The company announced today that it has raised a series A round of an...
View ArticleRewards Point Service, Moppy Operator Ceres Goes IPO On Mothers / Venture Now
Ceres was founded on January of 2005 and launched rewards point site for mobile, Moppy on May of the year. It started the service to PC in 2010 as well. The service has over 3.5 million users now. The...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s Crowd Cast fundraises from IMJ, looking to conquer...
Tokyo-based Crowd Cast, a startup developing cloud services and apps for expense management, launched a new iOS app called Staple today. Coinciding with this, the company also announced today that it...
View Article[Tech in Asia] Education startup company Mana.bo nets $3.07M to enter B2C sales
Mana.bo, the company providing real-time tutoring help via a virtual whiteboard, today informed Tech in Asia that it has raised JPY 330 million (US$3.07 million) in series A funding from Benesse...
View Article[The Bridge] Japan’s Orkney secures funding, strengthens tools development...
Yokohama-based Orkney, the company that provides fieldwork-focused customer relationship management tools called Orkney Upward, announced Tuesday that it has fundraised 90 million yen ($839,000) from...
View Article[Tech in Asia] Accounting startup Freee adds $6 million in funding
Freee proved again today that accounting software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies can be a hot commodity by revealing a US$6 million series B2 round of funding. This round was led by Pavilion Capital and...
View Article