Japan's Creema raises $10m round
Globis Capital Partners has led a JPY1.1 billion ($10 million) round for Japan-based Creema, the operator of an online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace specializing in handmade items.
Early-stage backer Global Brain as well as SMBC Venture Capital and Creema CEO Kotaro Marubayashi also participated in the investment, according to a statement. Global Brain is investing via its JPY800 million KDDI Open Innovation Fund.
The capital will be used to support technical developments and new marketing initiatives. These efforts are expected to focus on overseas expansion and the company's brick-and-mortar strategy, which includes an existing store in Tokyo's Lumine Shinjuku shopping mall.
Founded in 2010, Creema now lists some 2.4 million handmade items from more than 60,000 registered users. Merchandise on the platform is expected to achieve a value of JPY10 billion this year. The company claims that Japan's C2C marketplace for handicrafts has increased in value by 250% over the past year.
Both Global Brain and Globis have recently been active in Japan's C2C online shopping sector with participation in a JPY8.4 billion Series D for Mercari. Global Brain's KDDI vehicle invested JPY100 million in Creema in 2014 after supplying seed funding to rival handicraft marketplace Creatty.
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