Japanese restaurant app Retty raises $8.2m

The investment follows a $3.2 million Series B round which took place in late 2013; backers included Itochu Ventures and Mizuho Capital. Prior to that, in October 2012, the start-up raised JPY100 million from Gree Ventures, NTT Investment Partners, and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital.

Set up in December 2010, Retty offers an online "social gourmet service" whereby users can list and rate their favorite restaurants and share their assessments with friends. According to a release, the app claimed to have more than seven million active users as of February, an increase of one million on the previous month.

The company plans to use the new capital to support expansion into the rest of Asia and North America. The round also coincides with the start-up releasing a re-design of its app on the iOs mobile operating system.

Within Japan, Retty faces a handful of competitors including Gurunavi, which is yet to receive any VC funding, and FoodKing, which is backed by Japanese ad giant Dentsu.

Across Asia, there have been a number of deals involving restaurant discovery platforms. In November Indian listings site Zomato raised $60 million in VC funding, while five months before that IDG Capital Partners led a $7 million Series B round of funding for Ricebook, a Chinese restaurant review mobile app operator.

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• Topics
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• Fidelity Growth Partners Japan
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