Japan-based clothing production service provider Sitateru has received additional series C funding from investors including digital marketing agency Opt, taking its total funding to ¥2bn ($18.5m).
Opt invested through its corporate venture capital unit, Opt Ventures, while public-private partnership Cool Japan Fund also participated. The size of the series C round has not been disclosed.
Founded in 2014, Sitateru operates an online platform which matches designers and apparel brands with small and medium-sized sewing enterprises. The company will use the money to expand its activities overseas and improve its competitiveness.
This funding comes after the first tranche of series C round of undisclosed sum last month featuring cybersecurity technology provider Hennge, retail group Marui, textile supplier Yagi and steel producer Nippon Steel’s Nippon Steel Trading subsidiary.
The company previously raised a series B round of several hundred millions of yen in May 2018 (¥100m = $890,000) from investors including Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, FFG Venture Business Partners and SMBC Venture Capital, subsidiaries of financial services firms Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Bank of Fukuoka and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, along with Opt Ventures and VC firm Spiral Ventures.
Sitateru’s series A round in 2016 reportedly consisted of several hundred millions of yen and included Opt Ventures and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital. It followed a 2014 seed round of several tens of millions of yen from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, VC firm Nippon Venture Capital and media company Livesense.
