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KDDI invests $1m in Japan handiwork marketplace

  • Andrew Woodman
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KDDI Open Innovation Fund, the early-stage investment vehicle backed by Japanese telecoms giant KDDI, has invested JPY100 million ($1 million) in Creema, an online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) market for handmade items.

Creema was launched in 2010 and has since built a community of 18,000 creators who have posted over 500,000 items on the platform. It is one of a number of start-ups in the handmade marketplace segment. Its main rival in Japan is Creatty, which has also received seed funding from KKDI OI Fund as well as start-up investor Movida Japan.

There are similar sites in other countries: Pinkoi in Taiwan and Etsy in the US.

What makes Creema different from its competitors is that most of its creators are making a living by selling their items via the platform. The company also has a flagship store in Tokyo and holds an annual "Handmade in Japan Festival."

The company claims to have 15 million monthly page views, with transactions made via the platform increasing 400% in the past year.

According to a release, Creema plans to use the extra capital for system development efforts to improve user experience. In addition to raising capital, the company will also be able drive user traffic from Au Smart Pass, the unlimited app download service run by KDDI and it is now planning to add several payment methods for KDDI's smart phone subscribers.

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