Unifa, a Japan-based platform that tracks the health and growth of pre-schoolers, on Friday obtained ¥3.5bn ($32.4m) in series C funding from corporates including insurance providers Dai-ichi Life Insurance and Aflac, according to The Bridge.
Medical services provider M3, textile trader Toyoshima, printing company Toppan Printing, management consultancy Link and Motivation and Japan Post Capital, the corporate venturing unit of logistics and mail company Japan Post, contributed to the round.
SBI Investment, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Shinsei Corporate Investment and SMBC Venture Capital, respective investment subsidiaries of financial services firms SBI Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Shinsei Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, also took part.
Public-private partnership Innovation Network Corporation of Japan also joined the round, which Aflac backed through its Aflac Ventures division.
Unifa operates a platform called Lookmee that relies on artificial intelligence and internet-of-things sensors to monitor the health and growth of children in pre-school. Parents can purchase films or pictures of their children playing.
The platform is currently in use across 6,250 pre-schools and childcare facilities across Japan, and Unifa will use the money to further improve its offering and develop additional features.
Unifa has also announced its acquisition of Kidsly, a Japan-based platform for parents to communicate with kindergarten teachers and manage their child’s attendance.
Toppan Printing, Shinsei Corporate Investment and SMBC Venture Capital were identified as returning shareholders, though it is unclear which rounds they previously participated in.
Pegasus Tech Ventures, then known as Fenos Venture Capital, supplied $1m in April 2017, followed by a $9.1m commitment from undisclosed backers that October. Japan Finance Corporation and Jafco had earlier provided $2.5m in 2015.
