6 rising startups in Japan

This week had a ton of startups get funded in Japan, and here are some of the most interesting ones.

Floadia

Photo credit: Wikimedia.

Floadia specializes in creating new, optimized circuitry for memory storage hardware. Floadia designs memory hardware based on customer specifications and then licenses the designs to the customers. The customers can then produce it themselves or through a third party.

Last Wednesday, a group of nine investors closed out a B round with just over US$14 million in funding. TechCrunch reports that business models like Floadia’s have been drawing attention in Japan ever since SoftBank’s US$32 billion acquisition of British semiconductor designer ARM holdings last year.

Aperza

Aperza operates Aperza and Cluez, two web-based services that both target the manufacturing industries. Cluez allows companies to browse and download industrial materials catalogues, giving them a wide array of information about prices, quality, and providers.

In 2016, Cluez launched its Taiwanese version and started a strategic partnership with Chinese firm Gongkong to provide service to Chinese manufacturers, reports The Bridge.

The company’s other self-named service Aperza allows manufactures to compare quality and prices of industrial parts and materials. According to its press release, Aperza plans to allow users to make purchases directly through the site in the future.

It received an investment of US$5.3 million early last week from Jafco and GMO Venture Partners.

Future Standard

Future Standard, the makers of Scorer, received roughly US$1.8 million in funds from Spiral Ventures and TechAccel Ventures last week.

Scorer is a platform that simplifies the development of video analysis programs or services. Scorer combines several individual packages, such as facial recognition software and age estimation programs, into a multipurpose software suite. It also allows for extra utility through cloud computing. Future Standard CEO Satoshi Toriumi claims users can make a basic facial recognition program using the software in only 15 minutes, according to TechCrunch.

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