Creww raises $1.2M from Nippon TV, will continue to spotlight Japanese startups

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Last week I had a chance to speak with Tokyo-based Creww.me, a company here in Japan that has been working to improve local startup scene. Creww does a number of things, such as matching third party corporate clients with startups who might be able to meet their needs in some way. They also are building a database of Japanese startups, which we certainly think is a worthwhile task. Creww also features a Creww Marketplace where startups can find services that might be useful to them, sort of in the same fashion as AnyPerk.

I met with CEO Sorato Ijichi and public relations manager Kozue Ishii, and the pair revealed to me that Creww had just raised $1.2 million in series A funding from Nippon TV (the official announcement is today), and they will be using those funds to further grow their business, especially their marketplace. Creww also plans to translate its database into five languages in order to help make Japanese companies more visible globally, especially outside of Asia.

Creww plans to translate its startup database into 5 languages.

They’ll be hiring new staff, including engineers and marketers, and they also mentioned that a play for Asia will be on the horizon. The team will be moving into a new office very soon too, and we hope to show you what that looks like after we get a chance to visit.

I’m told that Creww worked with Nippon TV back in May of this year as a part of their startup collaboration program. The television company, as part of its 60th anniversary, had looking for a startup to collaborate with, and they received more than 60 proposals from registered Creww startups. Subsequently more than 10 of those visited the Nippon TV office, and currently some of those are being considered to be put into use in Nippon TV’s business.

Creww was established back in August of 2012. They share many of the same goals and values of us here at SD Japan, so we hope they too can continue to help build the local startup scene as they have been doing thus far.