5 rising startups in Japan

Just in time for the new year, this week’s roundup features two healthtech startups. The newly funded companies raised money primarily from corporate venture capital funds. Leading firms such as Toyota, GMO, DeNA, and Daiwa all chipped in funds.

Full details below.

FiNC

Photo credit: Michael Zittel.

FiNC, a mobile-first healthtech startup, has raised US$17.5 million in a series C. The round comes a little over one year after the company raised an undisclosed amount in a series B. Dai-Ichi Seimei, a popular Japanese life insurance brand, was a repeat investor. Food and beverage corporation Kagome and Toyota’s Mirai Fund were prominent additions.

The company uses a team of nutritionists, trainers, and data scientists to help users figure out the best way to slim down and stay healthy. This core offering has been supplemented by corporate fitness services, personal training options, and an online mall.

Campfire

Photo credit: pasiphae / 123RF.

Campfire, a popular crowdfunding platform in Japan, has raised US$2.9 million. Since its founding in 2011, 150,000 users have given US$14 million to 4,200 projects. The round featured a who’s who of Japanese investors led by GMO, SMBC Venture Capital, East Ventures, and DeNA.

In its bid to separate itself from competitors like Kibidango, Makuake, and ReadyFor, Campfire will be beefing up its AI capabilities to better analyze the future potential of listed projects. It will also explore adding social lending to its platform.

HR Brain

Photo credit: bimdeedee / 123RF Stock Photo.

HR Brain, a startup promising to take the headache out of HR evaluations, raised an undisclosed amount of money from Janesia Ventures and Beenext. The cloud-based offering is customizable – users can choose from systems like OKR, 360-degree, and MBO frameworks and add further modifications as needed.

The funding caps a string of PR victories for the firm. Founded by Hiroki Hori, a former star at CyberAgent who managed the company’s leading social blog business, the startup completed Recruit’s accelerator program and won the TechCrunch Japan 2016 award last November.

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