Startup Funding Wrap-up in Japan – 29th Sept – 5th Oct

We’re at our #006 edition of the Startup Funding Wrap-up in Japan, this time we’re entering October, and deeper into fall, or you might not know it with temperatures staying relatively warm.

Last week in Japan, we saw ¥7.7b total (≈ A$79.47m / US $52.46 m), which was up from the past few weeks, which is always a positive.

Let’s delve into what happened:

🇯🇵 Japan – Capital moves:

• Personal Health Tech (Kensapo ) • ¥300m (≈ US$2.04m / A$3.08m) extension • health check & lifestyle app • The Bridge (Japanese only)
• Univearth • ¥360m (≈ US$2.44m / A$3.70m) pre-Series A • wholesale-price intelligence SaaS • The Bridge (Japanese only)
• ZEAL • ¥290m (≈ US$1.97m / A$2.98m) Series A • boxing-fitness franchise & platform • The Bridge (Japanese only)
• SOXAI Inc. • ¥2.0b (≈ US$13.58m / A$20.56m) private placement bonds (Siiibo) • wearables • source: The Bridge (Japanese only)
• INDX Co., Ltd. • ¥100m (≈ US$0.68m / A$1.03m) seed • unstructured-data → AI knowledge • The Bridge (Japanese only)
• ADXI • (total) ¥600m (≈ US$4.07m / A$6.17m) cumulative to date • AI R&D + hiring • source: The Bridge (Japanese only)
• Entaar • ¥150m (≈ US$1.02m / A$1.54m) pre-Series A • cybersecurity/infra • source: The Bridge (Japanese only)
• Patentix • ¥719 m (≈ A$5.96 m / US $3.94 m) Series A • UWBG power-semiconductor (GeO₂) startup from Ritsumeikan advancing R&D and production • PR Times (Japanese only)
• SYNTHESIS • ¥580 m Seed (≈ A$5.96 m / US $3.94 m) • Consulting + AI firm backed by Incubate Fund & banks to scale hiring and overseas ops • PR Times (Japanese only)
• EF Polymer Global • ¥2.63b (round total ≈ A$27.03 m / US $17.85 m) Series B (second close) • Ag-materials upcycler completes B round to accelerate global GTM & R&D • PR Times (Japanese only)
• N.Avenue (CoinDesk Japan operator) • (undisclosed) Series B (1st close) • Web3 / digital-assets information infrastructure adding Spiral Capital, NSSOL, NOBUNAGA Capital Village, Headline Asia • PR Times (Japanese only)
• WED • (undisclosed) Growth / expansion • Receipt-data / purchase-insight business gets backing from Giftee and Dawn Capital to scale – The Bridge (Japanese only)
• 株式会社HIKE • (undisclosed) Series A • Animation / IP + content / creative-tech firm raising a round led by Simplex Capital Investment and TV Asahi to scale its DX / creative workflow infrastructure – The Bridge (Japanese only)

JP Total for the week across 10 (3 Undisclosed) rounds: ¥7.7b total (≈ A$79.47m / US $52.46 m) – great work from all the startups securing funding!

Headlines out of Japan:

• What does Founders Fund think about the Japanese market? What was revealed during a roundtable with Global Brain – The Bridge (Japanese only)
• Takaichi rides conservative LDP wave, faction politics to victory – Nikkei Japan
• Japan backpedals on solar panel recycling law, eyes nonbinding guidelines – Nikkei Japan
• Japan eyes subsidies for companies using renewables, nuclear power – Nikkei Japan
• Fujitsu and Nvidia to develop energy-efficient AI chips by 2030 – Nikkei Japan
• Asahi cyberattack’s broad impact shows downside of bigger IT systems – Nikkei Japan
• Mitsubishi makes play for real estate on future space station – Nikkei Japan
• Japan seeks to boost new geothermal power generation – Nikkei Japan
• Isuzu and Toyota to develop hydrogen fuel cell bus – Nikkei Japan
• 98% of Japan business leaders support accepting more foreign workers: poll – Nikkei Japan
• Komatsu says autonomous dump trucks carry social impact of $2.4bn – Nikkei Japan
• Virtual idols draw real-world crowds as Japan’s VTuber market soars – Kyodo News
• Foreigners in Japan with skilled visa hits record high – Kyodo News
• Osaka expo visitors reach 22.21 million, surpassing 2005 Aichi total – Kyodo News
• Japan major bank to make 1-month paternity leave mandatory – Kyodo News

Sector Spotlight – GovTech:

xID – A Tokyo-based GovTech startup developing SmartPOST, a digital postal and identity platform that integrates with Japan’s My Number digital ID system to streamline municipal mail and citizen notifications. xID raised approximately ¥600m (≈ US$4m / A$6.2m) in growth funding to expand SmartPOST adoption among local governments, with participation from strategic investors including Dai Nippon Printing – xID Inc. official site

Have an awesome one from us @ Japan Angel Hub!

Alternatively, if you want to receive the weekly newsletter via email, then fill in your details below!

As a bonus we’ll send you our Free Guide to Angel Investing in Japan + Bonus Scorecard – just for being a great human!