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Japanese crowdsourcing startup Lancers files for IPO

Takeshi Hirano Takeshi Hirano
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Lancers, the Japanese startup providing a major crowdsourcing platform under the same name, announced on Wednesday that the IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on December 16 with plans to offer 2,270,000 million shares for public subscription and to sell up to 1,100,600 shares in over-allotment options, for a total of 5,067,400 shares. Daiwa Securities will lead the underwriting. Its share price range will be released on November 17 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on November 29 and pricing on December 6. According to the consolidated statement as of March 2019, they posted revenue of 2.52 billion yen (about $23.2 million) with an ordinary loss of 93 million yen ($854,000), serving 33,000 companies in Japan while unit sales per client reaches 194,000 yen (about $1,780). See also: Can crowdsourcing startups change Japan’s employment landscape? Lancers CEO Yosuke Akiyoshi on obstacles facing crowdsourcing in Japan Japanese crowdsourcing startup Lancers launches matchmaking platform for regional businesses Since its launch back in 2008, the company has been offering a platform allowing companies outsource tasks to freelancers. The traditional concept of crowdsourcing…

Lancers CEO Yosuke Akiyoshi

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Lancers, the Japanese startup providing a major crowdsourcing platform under the same name, announced on Wednesday that the IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on December 16 with plans to offer 2,270,000 million shares for public subscription and to sell up to 1,100,600 shares in over-allotment options, for a total of 5,067,400 shares. Daiwa Securities will lead the underwriting.

Its share price range will be released on November 17 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on November 29 and pricing on December 6. According to the consolidated statement as of March 2019, they posted revenue of 2.52 billion yen (about $23.2 million) with an ordinary loss of 93 million yen ($854,000), serving 33,000 companies in Japan while unit sales per client reaches 194,000 yen (about $1,780).

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Since its launch back in 2008, the company has been offering a platform allowing companies outsource tasks to freelancers. The traditional concept of crowdsourcing has been that someone in a remote location helps you finish minor tasks at an affordable rate. But platforms like Lancers are being used for more, serving as a primary income stream for some.

Led by CEO Yosuke Akiyoshi (62.47%), the company’s major shareholders include Globis Capital Partners (15.62%), KDDI (5.95%), Persol Holdings (5.38%), GMO Venture Partners (3.05%), Shinsei Bank (2.3%), and Gree Ventures (1.18%, now known as Strive).

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Japan’s Money Forward acquires SaaS comparison startup Smartcamp for $18M

SCORE 1,308 Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Money Forward (TSE:3994), the Japanese company providing cloud-based accounting solutions, announced on Monday that it will take a 72.3% stake in Smartcamp, the Japanese startup behind the Boxil SaaS comparison site and the Bales inside sales support service, for about 2 billion yen, or $18.3 million US. Smartcamp eventually made an exit by joining the Money Forward group. Founded back in June of 2014, Smartcamp launched Boxil back in May of 2015 by pivoting from their previous Sket service through participating twice in Incubate Camp, an annual 2-day bootcamp program by Incubate Fund offering budding entrepreneurs with mentoring opportunities. As of October, the company boasted 1 million monthly page views and more than 120,000 registered users with bringing over 30,000 potential users to SaaS providers. Smartcamp launched a service called Bales back in September of 2017, which allows SaaS providers to outsource their sales operations to the startup. In August, they launched another new service called Biscuit, a cloud-based customer relationship management tool for inside sales. Through these services, the company has successfully been offering marketing channels for over 100 third parties. Meanwhile, Money Forward has been acquiring approximately a startup an year…

Money Forward President & CEO Yosuke Tsuji (right), Smartcamp CEO Satoshi Furuhashi (left)
Image credit: Money Forward

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Money Forward (TSE:3994), the Japanese company providing cloud-based accounting solutions, announced on Monday that it will take a 72.3% stake in Smartcamp, the Japanese startup behind the Boxil SaaS comparison site and the Bales inside sales support service, for about 2 billion yen, or $18.3 million US. Smartcamp eventually made an exit by joining the Money Forward group.

Founded back in June of 2014, Smartcamp launched Boxil back in May of 2015 by pivoting from their previous Sket service through participating twice in Incubate Camp, an annual 2-day bootcamp program by Incubate Fund offering budding entrepreneurs with mentoring opportunities. As of October, the company boasted 1 million monthly page views and more than 120,000 registered users with bringing over 30,000 potential users to SaaS providers.

Smartcamp launched a service called Bales back in September of 2017, which allows SaaS providers to outsource their sales operations to the startup. In August, they launched another new service called Biscuit, a cloud-based customer relationship management tool for inside sales. Through these services, the company has successfully been offering marketing channels for over 100 third parties.

Meanwhile, Money Forward has been acquiring approximately a startup an year to expand their business, including acquiring Klavis, the Japan-/Singapore-based startup behind accounting and book-keeping software Streamed, as well as knowledgelabo, the Osaka-based startup behind cloud-based business management analytics tool Manageboard.

With the acquisition, Money Forward can boost customer acquisition effort for their product series leveraging Smartcamp’s marketing intelligence while Smarcamp aims to attract more users for their products leveraging Money Forward’s vast network and customer base.

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Wassha, power supplier for off-grid Africa, snags $9M from Daikin, Yamaha Motor, others

SCORE 1,300 Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Wassha, developing a prepaid solar power delivery service to off-grid areas in rural Africa by networking kiosk vendors under the same name, announced today that it has raised 1.01 billion yen (about $9.2 million) in a series B round. Participating investors are Daikin Industries (TSE:6367), Yamaha Motor (TSE:7272), Mistletoe, Mizuho Capital in addition to existing investors such as The University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC) and Marubeni (TSE:8002). The latest round brought their total funding sum up to about 2.4 billion yen (about $22 million). See also: Wassha, power supplier for off-grid Africa, secures $3M from Japan aid agency How Japanese energy startup Wassha delivers prepaid solar power to rural Africa Wassha installs solar panels or battery chargers, then provides LED lanterns, radios, tablets to kiosk operators; the kiosks rent these out to villagers and collect fees from them for charging power at the kiosks. The owners settle the electricity bills from smartphones and power charging boxes for the appliances, not to mention earning at each kiosk by charging money for use of mobile phones. Among the investors participating investors, Wassha aims to develop new business with Daikin Industries, Yamaha Motor, and Mistletoe….

Image credit: Wassha

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Wassha, developing a prepaid solar power delivery service to off-grid areas in rural Africa by networking kiosk vendors under the same name, announced today that it has raised 1.01 billion yen (about $9.2 million) in a series B round.

Participating investors are Daikin Industries (TSE:6367), Yamaha Motor (TSE:7272), Mistletoe, Mizuho Capital in addition to existing investors such as The University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC) and Marubeni (TSE:8002). The latest round brought their total funding sum up to about 2.4 billion yen (about $22 million).

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Wassha installs solar panels or battery chargers, then provides LED lanterns, radios, tablets to kiosk operators; the kiosks rent these out to villagers and collect fees from them for charging power at the kiosks. The owners settle the electricity bills from smartphones and power charging boxes for the appliances, not to mention earning at each kiosk by charging money for use of mobile phones.

Among the investors participating investors, Wassha aims to develop new business with Daikin Industries, Yamaha Motor, and Mistletoe. We were told that Wassha will unveil details on but the potential joint projects with these investors.

However, it seems like the startup aims to work with Daikin to establish a cold chain, a temperature-controlled food distribution network leveraging air conditioning and refrigeration facilities, and also work with Yamaha Motor to establish a motorcycle-based delivery network connecting the kiosks participating in the Wassha network. Kindly think a somewhat another version of Zipline (drone-based logistics platform in Africa) plus NinjaCart (fresh foods marketing platform in India).

Mistletoe has invested in Zipline and NinjaCart in addition to Agribuddy (microfinance platform for farmers in Southeast Asia) and FOMM (manufacturing floatable electric vehicles). Leveraging Wassha’s kiosk network, Mistletoe is expected to help their portfolio companies expand their solution into the African market.

Having rolled out their service in Tanzania, Wassha is planning to expand into Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Ethiopia going forward. While keeping power delivery service in the off-grid area as a their core business, they will cultivate new businesses such as food distribution and marketplace aiming to help farmers get more income, which may lead to gaining the need of power delivery service users.

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Japanese accounting startup Freee to go IPO, targets $1B valuation: Nikkei

SCORE 1,734 Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
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Nikkei reported earlier this morning that Tokyo-based Freee, a Japanese startup behind a cloud-based accounting platform under the same name, is planning to get listed on the TSE Mothers Market in December. Serving over 1 million SMEs all across Japan, the startup is now ranked in the 5th place in valuation among Japanese startups and expects to raise it up to $1 billion through the IPO. Founded in 2012, the platform allows users to scan and read invoices, sort out them, and even automatically create financial statements. In partnership with 270 banks and other financial institutions in Japan, it also allows users to manage the movement of funds by integrating with their baking accounts. The accounting startup has secured more than $140 million US to date from many VCs and other businesses such as Line. Nikkei says the company has filed an application for an IPO, and is expected to get approved by TSE soon. See also: Japanese accounting startup Freee secures $8.3M from SBI’s FinTech Fund, others Japan’s cloud-based accounting startup Freee raises $29 million in series C round Japan’s accounting startup Freee raises $6M from Pavilion Capital and Recruit Holdings Japanese accounting startup Freee raises $2.7 million from…

Freee CEO and co-founder Daisuke Sasaki
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

Nikkei reported earlier this morning that Tokyo-based Freee, a Japanese startup behind a cloud-based accounting platform under the same name, is planning to get listed on the TSE Mothers Market in December. Serving over 1 million SMEs all across Japan, the startup is now ranked in the 5th place in valuation among Japanese startups and expects to raise it up to $1 billion through the IPO.

Founded in 2012, the platform allows users to scan and read invoices, sort out them, and even automatically create financial statements. In partnership with 270 banks and other financial institutions in Japan, it also allows users to manage the movement of funds by integrating with their baking accounts.

The accounting startup has secured more than $140 million US to date from many VCs and other businesses such as Line. Nikkei says the company has filed an application for an IPO, and is expected to get approved by TSE soon.

See also:

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Smart driving assistant developer Drivemode acquired by Honda R&D

The Bridge The Bridge
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See the original story in Japanese. Honda R&D, the research and development-focused subsidiary of the Japanese automotive giant, announced on Monday that it has acquired full stake in Drivemode, the US-based startup developing smart driving assistant technology, for an undisclosed sum. The two companies will join forces to develop connect mobility services at Digital Solution Center, a newly developed facility in Honda R&D. They have been working together since 2015 sice the Honda Xcelerator open innovation program. Since its launch back in 2014, Drivemode secured seed funding from Tokyo-based Incubate Fund and then launched an Android app under the same name which allows drivers to control their cars without watching the screen of the app. Prior to launching Drivemode, the startup’s founder Yokichi Koga previously worked at a Boston-based VC as a director and then car-sharing startup Zipcar as an advisor.  

drivemode_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Honda R&D, the research and development-focused subsidiary of the Japanese automotive giant, announced on Monday that it has acquired full stake in Drivemode, the US-based startup developing smart driving assistant technology, for an undisclosed sum.

The two companies will join forces to develop connect mobility services at Digital Solution Center, a newly developed facility in Honda R&D. They have been working together since 2015 sice the Honda Xcelerator open innovation program.

Since its launch back in 2014, Drivemode secured seed funding from Tokyo-based Incubate Fund and then launched an Android app under the same name which allows drivers to control their cars without watching the screen of the app.

Prior to launching Drivemode, the startup’s founder Yokichi Koga previously worked at a Boston-based VC as a director and then car-sharing startup Zipcar as an advisor.

 

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Japanese AI-powered cancer detection startup raises $43M in series B round

The Bridge The Bridge
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based AI Medical Service, the Japanese startup developing the AI-powered technology to detect cancerous lesions from endoscopic footage, announced on Friday that it has secured about 4.6 billion yen (about $43 million US) in a series B round. Participating investors in this round are: Globis Capital Partners（GCP） WiL Sparx Group Sony Innovation Fund by IGV（Managed by Innovation Growth Ventures, the joint venture of Sony and Daiwa Capital Holdings) Japan Lifeline (cardiovascular medical device manufacturer, TSE:7575) Japan Post Capital Aflac Ventures Ryoyo Electro (semiconductor trader, TSE:8068) SMBC Venture Capital Daiwa Corporate Investment An unnamed angel investor For the company, this follows their previous funding (series A round) worth 1 billion yen back in August of last year and brought their funding sum up to 6.2 billion yen (about $58 million US). Established by physician Dr.TOmohiro Tada, AI Medical Service has been developing an AI-powered diagnostic system for cancer detection. A survey says only 31% even among medical doctors can correctly determine the presence or absence of gastric cancer symptoms from endoscopic footage. With help from more than a few medical doctors, the company can improve the AI engine because of using hundreds of thousands of…

incubate-camp-10th-ai-medical-1

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based AI Medical Service, the Japanese startup developing the AI-powered technology to detect cancerous lesions from endoscopic footage, announced on Friday that it has secured about 4.6 billion yen (about $43 million US) in a series B round.

Participating investors in this round are:

  • Globis Capital Partners（GCP）
  • WiL
  • Sparx Group
  • Sony Innovation Fund by IGV（Managed by Innovation Growth Ventures, the joint venture of Sony and Daiwa Capital Holdings)
  • Japan Lifeline (cardiovascular medical device manufacturer, TSE:7575)
  • Japan Post Capital
  • Aflac Ventures
  • Ryoyo Electro (semiconductor trader, TSE:8068)
  • SMBC Venture Capital
  • Daiwa Corporate Investment
  • An unnamed angel investor

For the company, this follows their previous funding (series A round) worth 1 billion yen back in August of last year and brought their funding sum up to 6.2 billion yen (about $58 million US).

Established by physician Dr.TOmohiro Tada, AI Medical Service has been developing an AI-powered diagnostic system for cancer detection. A survey says only 31% even among medical doctors can correctly determine the presence or absence of gastric cancer symptoms from endoscopic footage. With help from more than a few medical doctors, the company can improve the AI engine because of using hundreds of thousands of high-definition endoscopic images to let it learn better. The engine now can detect with high accuracy the presence of Helicobacter Pylori bacteria, which is known to be the major cause of stomach cancer.

In 2017, the company won the top award at Beyond Next Ventures’ Brave accelerator program in the pre-incorporated startup segment. They also won the Best Growth and Judge awards at Incubate Camp 10th back in August of 2017, followed by winning the TechCrunch Japan award at the 10th Batch Demo Day of Recruit’s Tech Lab Paak accelerator.

The company uses the funds to promote clinical trials, expand the pipeline, hire talents, make more investments, aiming to accelerate the development of real-time endoscope AI and to get an approval of medical regulatory for it.

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Japan’s “flying car” developer SkyDrive snags $14M, expects manned test flight this year

SCORE 12,071 The Bridge The Bridge
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based SkyDrive, the Japanese drone startup spun off from the Cartivator volunteer group consisting of aircraft, drone and automotive engineers, announced on Monday that it has secured 1.5 billion yen (about $13.9 million US). The investment round is unknown but participating investors are Drone Fund, Z Corporation (investment arm of Yahoo Japan), Strive, Itochu Technology Ventures, and Energy & Environment Investment. Drone Fund and Z Corporation have participated in the startup’s past rounds. The company claims that the latest round brought their funding sum up to 2 billon yen (about $18.5 million US). Coinciding with the funding, Tatso Tsutsumi, General Partner of Strive, will join the board of SkyDrive as an outside director. The starutp will use the funds to speed up developing their drone to conduct a test flight within this year. See also: Japan startup unveils manned hoverbike, expecting it to fly above public roads SkyDrive’s so-called “flying car” is an electrically-powered, vertical take-off and landing pilotless aircraft. As a new trend in the mobility industry, the drone is expected to be used for taxi service in cities, means for transportation in remote islands and mountainous areas, emergency transport in the event…

skydrive-team
The SkyDrive team
Image credit: SkyDrive

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based SkyDrive, the Japanese drone startup spun off from the Cartivator volunteer group consisting of aircraft, drone and automotive engineers, announced on Monday that it has secured 1.5 billion yen (about $13.9 million US). The investment round is unknown but participating investors are Drone Fund, Z Corporation (investment arm of Yahoo Japan), Strive, Itochu Technology Ventures, and Energy & Environment Investment.

Drone Fund and Z Corporation have participated in the startup’s past rounds. The company claims that the latest round brought their funding sum up to 2 billon yen (about $18.5 million US). Coinciding with the funding, Tatso Tsutsumi, General Partner of Strive, will join the board of SkyDrive as an outside director. The starutp will use the funds to speed up developing their drone to conduct a test flight within this year.

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SkyDrive’s so-called “flying car” is an electrically-powered, vertical take-off and landing pilotless aircraft. As a new trend in the mobility industry, the drone is expected to be used for taxi service in cities, means for transportation in remote islands and mountainous areas, emergency transport in the event of a diaster. Compared to conventional air crafts, the drone is cost-effective, makes lower noise but requires a smaller space for take-off and landing.

SkyDrive was qualified as a finalist in the Tokyo Startup Gateway 2014 startup incubator, and then won the 5th place at the Launch Pad pitch competition at Infinity Ventures Summit 2015 Spring in Miyazaki. We have learned that the company secured funds from Drone Fund’s 2nd fund earlier this year.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda

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Japan’s UniFa, developing AI/IoT-powered kindergartner monitoring, secures $32M series C

The Bridge The Bridge
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See the original story in Japanese. Nagoya-based UniFa, the Japanese startup behind the Lookmee service brand using AI-powered IoT (Internet of solutions) solutions for tracking kindergartners’ health and growth, announced on Friday that it has secured about 3.5 billion yen (about $32.4 million US) in a series C round. Investors participating in this round are Japanese state-backed fund INCJ, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, medical service provider M3, Japan Post Capital, business management consulting firm Link And Motivation (TSE:2170), SBI Investment, Aflac Ventures, Nagoya-based textile trader Toyoshima, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Toppan Printing (TSE:7911), Shinsei Corporate Investment, and SMBC Venture Capital. Among all these investors, Toppan Printing, Shinsei Corporate Investment, and SMBC Venture Capital have participated in the past round. For UniFa, this follows their previous funding back in October of 2017 (1.02 billion yen), in April of 2017 ($1 million US from Fenos Venture Capital or now known as Pegasus Tech Ventures), and in 2015 (300 million yen from Jafco and Japan Finance Corporation). The latest round brought their total funding sum up to about 5 billion yen (about $46.3 million US). The company offers AI and IoT-powered healthcare solution for monitoring kindergartners’ safe nap, smart thermometer service in addition to allowing…

unifa-founders-investors-team
Image credit: UniFa

See the original story in Japanese.

Nagoya-based UniFa, the Japanese startup behind the Lookmee service brand using AI-powered IoT (Internet of solutions) solutions for tracking kindergartners’ health and growth, announced on Friday that it has secured about 3.5 billion yen (about $32.4 million US) in a series C round.

Investors participating in this round are Japanese state-backed fund INCJ, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, medical service provider M3, Japan Post Capital, business management consulting firm Link And Motivation (TSE:2170), SBI Investment, Aflac Ventures, Nagoya-based textile trader Toyoshima, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Toppan Printing (TSE:7911), Shinsei Corporate Investment, and SMBC Venture Capital.

Among all these investors, Toppan Printing, Shinsei Corporate Investment, and SMBC Venture Capital have participated in the past round. For UniFa, this follows their previous funding back in October of 2017 (1.02 billion yen), in April of 2017 ($1 million US from Fenos Venture Capital or now known as Pegasus Tech Ventures), and in 2015 (300 million yen from Jafco and Japan Finance Corporation). The latest round brought their total funding sum up to about 5 billion yen (about $46.3 million US).

The company offers AI and IoT-powered healthcare solution for monitoring kindergartners’ safe nap, smart thermometer service in addition to allowing their parents to purchase movies and pictures shooting their child at the kindergarten. As of August, their service is used by about 350,000 people at 6,250 kindergartens and other childcare facilities all across Japan. The company uses the funds to improve their existing products and develop new services, aiming to speed up completing so-called “Smart Kindergarten”.

UniFa announced in June that it has appointed Naoto Hoshi as CFO. He previously worked as an investment banker at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Coinciding with the funding at this time, the company acquired Kidsly, a childcare-focused online service originally founded by Recruit Marketing Partners and later acquired by Tokyo-based children book publisher Froebel.

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Japanese e-commerce platform Base files for IPO

SCORE 1,128 Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
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Tokyo-based Base, the e-commerce platform provider dubbed Japan’s answer to Shopify, announced on Friday that the IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on October 25 with plans to offer 405,000 shares for public subscription and to sell about 1.2 million shares in over-allotment options for a total of about 7.6 million shares. The underwriting will be led by Daiwa Securities while Base’s ticker code will be 4477. Its share price range will be released on October 8 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on October 9 and pricing on October 17. According to the consolidated statement as of December 2018, they posted revenue of 2.35 billion yen (about $21.7 million) with an ordinary loss of 798 million yen (about $7.4 million). Led by founder and CEO Yuta Tsuruoka (19.9%), the company’s major shareholders include VC firm Global Brain (19%), SBI Ventures Two / FinTech Business Innovation (15.4%), Japanese tech giant CyberAgent (9.6%), Japanese department store operator Marui Group (6.7%), Japanese sell-and-buy platform Mercari (6.6%), Japanese serial entrepreneur / angel investor Kazuma Ieiri’s Partyfactory (5.6%), and East Ventures (5.5%). See also: Japanese e-commerce platform Base raises $13M,…

base_featuredimage
Image credit: Base

Tokyo-based Base, the e-commerce platform provider dubbed Japan’s answer to Shopify, announced on Friday that the IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on October 25 with plans to offer 405,000 shares for public subscription and to sell about 1.2 million shares in over-allotment options for a total of about 7.6 million shares. The underwriting will be led by Daiwa Securities while Base’s ticker code will be 4477.

Its share price range will be released on October 8 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on October 9 and pricing on October 17. According to the consolidated statement as of December 2018, they posted revenue of 2.35 billion yen (about $21.7 million) with an ordinary loss of 798 million yen (about $7.4 million).

Led by founder and CEO Yuta Tsuruoka (19.9%), the company’s major shareholders include VC firm Global Brain (19%), SBI Ventures Two / FinTech Business Innovation (15.4%), Japanese tech giant CyberAgent (9.6%), Japanese department store operator Marui Group (6.7%), Japanese sell-and-buy platform Mercari (6.6%), Japanese serial entrepreneur / angel investor Kazuma Ieiri’s Partyfactory (5.6%), and East Ventures (5.5%).

See also:

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Japanese house construction management SaaS Andpad closes series B with $22.6M

SCORE 1,099 The Bridge The Bridge
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Oct, the Japanese startup developing and providing the Andpad house construction management platform, announced on Thursday that it has closed a series B round by raising funds from the investment arms of four regional banks in Japan in addition to existing investors. Participating investors are Senshu Ikeda Capital, Iyogin Capital, Kyogin Lease & Capital, Chibagin Capital, Globis Capital Partners, DNX Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Beenext. This is additional funding in a series b round following the previous announcement back in March of this year, brings the total funding sum in the round up to about 2.4 billion yen (about 22.6 million US). Launched back in 2016, the platform has been adopted by more than 1,600 companies by March of this year. Through respective partnerships with the regional banks participating in this round, the company wants to more focus on expanding their business into provincial areas, aiming to help address labor shortage and improve productivity in the entire Japanese construction industry. Translated by Masaru Ikeda

andpad_featuredimage
Andpad
Image credit: Oct

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Oct, the Japanese startup developing and providing the Andpad house construction management platform, announced on Thursday that it has closed a series B round by raising funds from the investment arms of four regional banks in Japan in addition to existing investors.

Participating investors are Senshu Ikeda Capital, Iyogin Capital, Kyogin Lease & Capital, Chibagin Capital, Globis Capital Partners, DNX Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Beenext. This is additional funding in a series b round following the previous announcement back in March of this year, brings the total funding sum in the round up to about 2.4 billion yen (about 22.6 million US).

Launched back in 2016, the platform has been adopted by more than 1,600 companies by March of this year. Through respective partnerships with the regional banks participating in this round, the company wants to more focus on expanding their business into provincial areas, aiming to help address labor shortage and improve productivity in the entire Japanese construction industry.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda

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