Japan-based medical treatment app provider CureApp has raised ¥2.1bn ($19.3m) from investors including corporates Dai-ichi Life, Itochu, Koshidaka and Toyoshima & Co, taking its total funding to roughly $58.8m.
Financial services firms Shoko Chukin Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) also took part in the round, as did Healthcare Innovation, Saisei Ventures and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment’s Japan Co-Investment III.
Insurer Dai-ichi Life and holding group Koshidaka participated directly, while conglomerate Itochu, textile trader Toyoshima & Co and SMBC invested through Itochu Technology Ventures (ITV), Toyoshima CVC and SMBC Venture Capital respectively.
Hataraku Fund, a joint venture between banking firm Shinsei Bank’s Shinsei Corporate Investment unit and Social Innovation and Investment Foundation, filled out the round, which included debt financing supplied by Shoko Chukin Bank.
Founded in 2014, CureApp has created a mobile app that enables patients suffering from conditions including alcoholism, cancer, nicotine dependence, hypertension and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis to book therapeutic treatments.
Dai-ichi Life, ITV and Koshidaka had already backed a $20.4m round for CureApp in mid-2019, investing with real estate developer Mori Trust, holding company Intage and Iwagin Jigyo Souzou Capital, Mizuho Capital and Keio Innovation Initiative (KII), on behalf of financial services firms Bank of Iwate and Mizuho Financial Group, and Keio University respectively.
Dai-ichi Life, Itochu, ITV, Iwagin Jigyo Souzou Capital, KII and Mizuho Capital had all taken part in a $14.2m round a year earlier featuring robotics technology developer Cyberdyne and Saison Ventures, Chibagin Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, respective vehicles for payment services provider Credit Saison and financial services groups Chiba Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, in addition to Beyond Next Ventures (BNV).
BNV, KII and SBI Investment had provided $3.4m in funding for CureApp in 2017, after BNV had injected $890,000 into the company two years before.
