Startup Funding Wrap-up in Japan – Sept 15th-22nd

Welcome to #004 of our Weekly Funding Startup Wrap in Japan – Sept 15th to 22nd! We just got back from a very productive trip in Tokyo as well.

In Japan, they had a much more modest week with ¥6.14b (~A$59.9m / ~US$40.6m), across a range of fund raising activity.

Let’s see what went down:

🇯🇵 Japan – Capital moves (past week)

• RENDEZ-VOUS – ¥400m (~A$3.9m / ~US$2.6m) Series A – Co-ownership platform for enthusiast cars; expanding product line-up and hiring – PR TIMES (Japanese only)
• TerraceMile（テラスマイル）– ¥100m (~A$1.0m / ~US$0.65m) Series B – Building new farm-to-market logistics platform “ジャスタウェイ (@Justaway)” – PR TIMES (Japanese only)
• SAMANSA – ¥740m (~A$7.2m / ~US$4.8m) Series A – Short-film streaming service scaling distribution and partnerships – PR TIMES (Japanese only)
• ElevationSpace Inc. – ¥1.1b (~A$10.7m / ~US$7.2m) Pre-Series B – In-space manufacturing/return services; cumulative funding now ¥3.7b – PR TIMES (Japanese only)
• Regenesome – ¥20m (~A$0.19m / ~US$0.13m) Seed / J-KISS – Anti-aging biotech; backed by Leave a Nest Capital – PR TIMES (Japanese only)
• S-CANVAS Inc. – Undisclosed Pre-Series A – AI interior design & space-planning SaaS, capital to expand GTM – The Bridge (Japanese only)
• AIxtal – ¥450m (~A$4.4m / ~US$3.0m) Round not specified – Materials/process informatics to optimise manufacturing – The Bridge (Japanese only)
• Openheart – ¥130m (~A$1.3m / ~US$0.85m) Seed extension – 3D medical imaging (“TAVIO”) platform accelerating pilots – The Bridge (Japanese only)
• Labol – ¥3.2b (~A$31.2m / ~US$20.9m) – Challenger bank for freelancers and sole proprietors – The Bridge (Japanese only)
• AGRIST – Undisclosed Series B – Robotics/AI-driven decarbonised smart farming – The Bridge (Japanese only)
• Console – Undisclosed Round not specified – AI agent platform targeting enterprise IT ops – The Bridge (Japanese only)
• PixVerse, Inc. – Undisclosed Growth/product focus – AI video-production app with viral traction; not a formal funding disclosure – The Bridge (Japanese only)

JP disclosed total ¥6.14b (~A$59.9m / ~US$40.6m) across 8 deals (excluding 4 undisclosed) – awesome work from all the founders that raised!

Headlines out of Japan:

• Kubota unveils ‘world’s first’ driverless fuel cell tractor – Nikkei Japan
• Sony is set to collect a blockbuster game bounty with GTA VI – Nikkei Japan
• SoftBank Vision Fund to cut 20% of global workforce – Nikkei Japan
• Trade wars boosting India-Japan cooperation, business lobby figure says – Nikkei Japan
• App helps former Vietnamese expats find jobs with Japan companies – Nikkei Japan
• Toyota unit Hino to launch fuel cell truck amid hydrogen headwinds – Nikkei Japan
• Japan to revise investment rules for startups to woo foreign capital – Nikkei Japan
• US-based Alumni Ventures to invest $100m in Japanese, American startups – Nikkei Japan
• Japan’s Takeda taps AI to predict drug demand and cut waste – Nikkei Japan
• SoftBank-owned PayPay set to kick off overseas expansion – Nikkei Japan
• Toyota releases e-Palette EV, aiming for full autonomous driving – Nikkei Japan
• Japan’s ‘Silicon Island’ wants to be like Taiwan but has a land problem – Nikkei Japan

🎥 Sector Spotlight – Emerging Video / Visual Editing Startups

🇯🇵 Japan:

• 株式会社LoiLo – Developer of LoiLoScope, one of Japan’s first GPU-accelerated consumer video editors. Known for fast performance and an intuitive, “game-like” interface that helped pioneer user-friendly editing in Japan.
• Vrew (VoyagerX) – AI-powered video editing software with auto-subtitle generation, silence removal, and text-based editing. Originally developed in Korea but now widely adopted in Japan by YouTubers and content creators.
• Animon – A Japan-born anime-tech venture that launched Animon . ai, a subscription platform for generating AI-driven anime videos. Designed for both individual creators and studios, it adapts generative AI to one of Japan’s most culturally significant creative industries.

Have an awesome one from us @ Japan Angel Hub!

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