BRIDGE

Japan virtual YouTuber management agency raises $6.6 million to expand globally

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Cover, the startup offering management production services of VTubers (short for “virtual YouTubers”), announced on Thursday that it has raised 700 ...
BRIDGE

‘Virtual YouTuber’ startup Activ8 secures $9.3M series C funding for global expansion

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Activ8 (pronounced ‘activate’), the Japanese startup behind the Upd8 (pronounced ‘update’) ‘Virtual YouTuber’ supporting project, announced on Wednesday ...
BRIDGE

Japanese mobile flea market app Mercari raises $14 million, will expand to US market

Tokyo-based Mercari, the startup behind the mobile flea market app of the same name, announced today it has raised 1.45 billion yen (approximately $14.1 million) from Global Brain, Globis Capital ...
BRIDGE

Kyoto fusion components developer attracts US VC firm, total funds reach $96.4M

See the original story in Japanese. Kyoto Fusioneering, a developer of key components for fusion reactors, announced on Tuesday that it has completed its second Series C extension round, raising 1.07 ...
BRIDGE

Yokohama City University Startup CROSS SYNC Raises 150 Million Yen from Fukuda Denshi and Others

CROSS SYNC, a startup from Yokohama City University, announced on January 31st raising approximately 150 million yen through third-party allocation of shares to medical device specialist manufacturer ...
BRIDGE

Japan VC Radar – A glance of the most active lead VCs in 2023 (Infographic)

This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” As is customary, we are ...
BRIDGE

Japan’s P2P lending platform Crowd Credit to be acquired by Bankers Holding

Tokyo-based Crowd Credit, the Japanese startup behind a cross-border peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform under the same name, announced on Thursday that it will be fully acquired by Osaka-based ...
BRIDGE

急成長する宇宙産業のチャンスはどこに——「UchuBiz」編集長が語る日本企業の挑戦

宇宙産業は今、大きな転換期を迎えています。SpaceXのイーロン・マスク氏やBlue Originを立ち上げたジェフ・ベゾス氏といったIT業界の巨人たちの参入により、マネタイズの手法に革新が起こり ...
BRIDGE

母に なった 技術者が 見出した、 ロボットの 新たな 使命——キビテク・林まりか氏が 描く 共生の テクノロジー

本稿は STORIUM が運営するサイトに掲載された記事からの転載。 STORIUMが応援するスタートアップの魅力に光を当てるストーリー。今回は、キビテク代表取締役CEOの林まりか氏のインタビュー ...
BRIDGE

なぜ今？事業企業発スタートアップの新潮流「カーブアウト」が再注目されるワケ【01Booster Conferenceレポート】

本稿はコーポレートアクセラレーターを運営するゼロワンブースターが運営するオウンドメディア「01 Channel」からの転載記事。 東レ、JAXAといった大手組織から独立し、新たな価値創造に ...
BRIDGE

Knowhere raises 480 million yen led by GLOBIS Capital Partners, with active professional baseball players among investors

Knowhere is developing an analysis app (from the company website) that can perform motion analysis based on body movements and calculate tracking data such as ball rotation with just a smartphone. It ...
BRIDGE

GEXVal, Accelerating Drug Discovery with AI, Raises Additional 300 Million Yen in Series C

GEXVal, which focuses on drug discovery using its proprietary AI-powered platform, announced on the 16th that it has raised 300 million yen in a Series C extension round through a capital and business ...