Japanese deli delivery service Okan raises from Yahoo Japan subsidiary, others

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See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based startup Okan provides an on-demand delivery service for Japanese deli foods for corporate customers. The company announced on Wednesday that it has fundraised an undisclosed amount from YJ Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital, and CA Mobile. YJ Capital is the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TSE:4689) while CA Mobile is a mobile-focused subsidiary of Japanese internet company CyberAgent (TSE:4751). This follows their previous funding of an undisclosed sum from CyberAgent Ventures and food delivery company Oisix (TSE:3182) in June of 2014.

With the service Office Okan, corporate customers will receive Japanese deli once a month, since the deli lasts about a month. These can be refrigerated, and users can buy it by dropping coins to the collection box on the fridge and prepare it in about minutes. Having been attracting many local businesses since its launch back one and a half years ago, the service is now adopted at many offices without massive promotion efforts.

In addition to people’s raising awareness of health, the company claims that this was supported by the recent transition about how companies provide welfare for their employees; the shift from providing recreation facilities and other asset-based services to providing the service that employees can use on a daily basis.

Okan CEO Keita Sawaki says,

Not only specific sectors like IT venture companies but also many companies from various industries, including listed companies, are using our service. We believe that our service can be a ‘defacto standard’ to companies to improve their work environment and support employees’ lives.

In addition to Office Okan, we will develop more solutions to support companies and their people in various ways. We want to keep making efforts to lead the industry providing B2E (business to employees) solutions.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda