VCs commit $33m to Japan's Bizreach

Other participants in the round, according to a release, included East Ventures, Dentsu Digital Holdings, IMJ Investment Partners, Gree Ventures, and Rakuten. Bizreach will use the funds to expand Stanby, its jobs listing service and search engine, and to launch a new cloud-based recruiting platform called HRMOS.

Bizreach was launched in 2009 by entrepreneur Swimmy Minami, who also founded VC-backed group buying site Luxa. The company's last funding round occurred in 2010, when Jafco committed JPY218 million.

Minami hopes to bring a more analytical approach to the hiring and recruitment process. Bizreach hopes eventually to build a platform to allow employers to track workers over the length of their employment, storing salary, performance, pensions and other information in a single convenient location.

YJ Capital has supported a number of start-ups in Japan, along with a few outside the country, focusing on information technology and computer-related businesses. The firm launched its second fund last year, with a target of JPY20 billion; investments from the fund so far include Indonesian fashion site VIP Plaza and South Korean restaurant discovery platform MangoPlate.

Singapore-based IMJ is also currently raising its first fund, from which the Bizreach investment was made and which is targeting JPY6 billion.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Expansion
• Consumer
• Technology
• Venture
• Japan
• TMT
• YJ Capital
• East Ventures
• Gree Ventures
• Rakuten