Internet technology provider Google has added an undisclosed amount to the series C round being raised by Japan-based retail technology developer Abeja, taking its total funding to approximately ¥6bn ($53m) to date.
The company had raised $38.3m in the round’s July 2018 first tranche, from investors including Japan Post Capital, a subsidiary of postal service Japan Post, graphics processing unit producer Nvidia, air conditioner maker Daikin, optical equipment manufacturer Topcon and auto components supplier Musashi Seimitsu Industry.
SBI Investment, a venture capital subsidiary of financial services provider SBI, also participated, along with PNB Inspire Partners, TBS Innovation Partners and the state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ).
Founded in 2012, Abeja has created a software platform that leverages machine learning to help retailers improve the layout of their stores.
The technology, which also automatically extracts attributes from big data to help its users understand their customers, is used by more than 100 corporate customers.
Abeja received $7m in a 2016 series B round that featured INCJ and PNB Inspire Partners as well as Archetype Ventures, the venture capital branch of startup network operator Archetype.
The company graduated from Orange Fab Asia, an accelerator run by telecommunications firm Orange, in 2014, receiving undisclosed amounts from mobile network NTT Docomo and enterprise software provider Salesforce the same year.
Abeja also raised a six-figure dollar amount from IT services provider Sakura Internet, investment firm Inspire and financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Bank in 2014.