Retty, Japan’s answer to Yelp, nabs $8.2M, eyes American, Singaporean expansions

Retty helps people navigate Japan’s restaurants. Like Yelp and domestic rivals Tabelog and Gurunavi, users rate restaurants and can see which spots are popular with their friends. The startup just announced it has scored JPY 1 billion (US$8.24 million) in series C funding.

Fidelity Growth Partners Japan joins this funding round alongside previous investors Gree Ventures and Mizuho Capital. The funding comes a bit over a year after Retty’s US$3.2 million series B.

It’s a considerable increase in funding, earned by the startup’s solid traction. At the time of its series B, the site had about 1 million monthly visitors. The Bridge says that number is expected to hit 8 million by the end of March.

Close observers of Japan’s startup scene know that the appearance of Fidelity Growth Partners Japan means Retty wants to go overseas. Several notable startups – Metaps, Peatix, and Kaizen Platform to name a few – have looked to the VC firm for guidance and support overseas.

Retty is no different. According to TechCrunch Japan, it will be expanding on a city-by-city basis in America, as well as Singapore and Hong Kong in Asia.

Its journey from that point is sure to get considerably more difficult. Yelp, with 135 million monthly active users dwarfs Retty’s reach; another rival in the form of Zomato, which originally hails from India, is expanding fast and now covers more than 20 nations.

(Source: Techcrunch Japan)