Japan-based industrial drone technology developer Clue has raised ¥2bn ($19.3m) in a series B round led by Strive, an early-stage investment vehicle for digital media company Gree.
The investors included Canal Ventures, Japan Post Capital, Makoto Capital and Mizuho Capital, on behalf of IT services firm Nihon Unisys, postal service Japan Post, consulting firm Makoto and financial services firm Mizuho Financial Group respectively.
Infrastructure maintenance provider Kashiwabara and Delight Ventures, a venture capital fund spun off by internet company DeNA, also took part, as did Environmental and Energy Investment, Mobile Internet Capital, Drone Fund and individuals Takanori Nakamura and Hideyuki Inoue. The round included debt financing from Aozora Corporate Investment and Mizuho Bank.
Founded in 2014, Clue is working on software applications for drones deployed in the construction industry. Its products include DroneRoofer, which facilitates the roof inspection process, and Drone Sekoukanrikun, which helps construction sites achieve digitalisation.
Makoto Capital took part in a round of undisclosed size for the company in August 2020, three years after $2.9m from investors including Dentsu Ventures and i-Mercury Capital, respective subsidiaries of marketing agency Dentsu and internet company Mixi, in addition to mobile marketing group Adways.
Business development firm Dream Incubator, Anri, Drone Fund, Spiral Ventures, Real Tech Fund, Clue co-founder Yūsuke Satō and private investor Kazuma Ieiri filled out the 2017 round. Clue’s earliest funding was an undisclosed amount in 2016 provuded by Anri, Satō and angel investor Kōtarō Chiba.
