YJ Capital, Yahoo Japan’s corporate venturing unit, has invested a reported Y30m ($0.3m) in Fastmedia, a Japan-based smart phone application development company.
As part of the start-up fundraising, Fastmedia will be able to accelerate its development plans for its Yappli app, which allows users to apply for the Apple applications store by simple processes, such as drag and drop, image upload, and text input on its dedicated content management system. Currently the service is based on Apple’s iOS, but will soon be launching an app available for Android users later this summer.
Separately, SoftBank Capital, the corporate venturing unit of Japan’s largest telecommunications company SoftBank Corporation that owns a large minority stake in Yahoo Japan, said it would work with YJ to bring early stage mobile and social media US companies into the Japanese market.
According to a Yahoo news report, Toshiaki Chiku, who is now heading Yahoo Japan’s US operations via SoftBank’s office in New York, said: “Yahoo Japan is making a big effort [investing $20m] to expand our venture capital impact in the United States, and we are firmly committed to helping companies at all growth stages get into the Japanese market. Japan can be challenging for many US companies, and given our scale and affiliation with SoftBank, we’re in a great position to help them grow and succeed.”