Japanese digital marketing player receives $28m
From Scratch, a Japanese digital marketing platform, has raised approximately JPY3.2 billion ($28.4 million) in funding from Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) and Rakuten Ventures, as well as several existing investors.
Founded in 2010, the company’s flagship product is B-Dash, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that allows companies to integrate data from different points in the marketing process – from customer acquisition to customer management – for centralized analysis. Customers include Kirin, Biglobe, NTT SmartConnect and Okasan Online Securities.
From Scratch said in a statement that the new funding will be used to make improvements to its artificial intelligence technology, data integration infrastructure, and high-speed processing capabilities.
Yasuhiro Abe, the company’s founder, told Techcrunch Japan that, as the marketing industry evolves, SaaS companies must be able to process large amounts of data through cloud-based systems. He also emphasized the importance of affordability, noting that B2B-focused firms do not have large marketing budgets. B-Dash charges JPY5 million for platform development and a JPY600,000 monthly service fee.
From Scratch previously raised JPY1.3 billion across two rounds in 2015, with participation from Itochu Technology Ventures, Dentsu Digital Holdings, Global Brain, and several independent Japanese VC firms.
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