Japan-based medical treatment app developer CureApp has raised ¥1.5bn ($14.2m) in funding from investors including diversified conglomerate Itochu and its Itochu Technology Ventures unit, The Bridge has reported.
The round also featured life insurance provider Dai-ichi Life as well as Saison Ventures, Mizuho Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, subsidiaries of payment services provider Credit Saison and financial services firms Mizuho Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
Venture capital firms Cyberdyne, Chibagin Capital, Beyond Next Ventures (BNV) and Iwagin Jigyo Souzou Capital completed the investor line up along with Keio Innovation Initiative (KII), Keio University’s VC arm.
Founded in 2014, CureApp develops medical treatment apps that enable patients to receive real-time, personalised guidance for conditions not ordinarily tackled by medications or medical devices.
Patients keep daily activity logs through the app which are then analysed by a cloud-based software platform that identifies factors exacerbating their condition.
CureApp will use the funding to enter additional geographic markets. The company, which already sells business-to-business smoking cessation services, is also looking to expand by introducing new treatments for lifestyle and mental health-related problems.
KII, BNV and SBI Investment, a subsidiary of financial services group SBI, took part in a $3.4m round for CureApp in February 2017, after BNV had provided the company with approximately $890,000 in 2015.