Uzabase lands extra $4.5M to speed up and simplify corporate data digging

Tokyo-headquartered Uzabase, a company and industry information platform built to overthrow Bloomberg Terminal, announced today that it has secured JPY 472 million (US$4.5 million) from a total of nine investors. The funding will be used to drive further expansion in Asia, using the company’s current offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore as launch pads.

Uzabase’s flagship product, SPEEDA, has grown exponentially since launching in 2008. It now boasts 100 percent coverage of publicly-listed companies in Asia. Maintaining that strong focus on Asia, SPEEDA also provides data on roughly 600,000 unlisted companies with strong Asian ties.

Uzabase recently integrated a one-million-deal-strong mergers and acquisitions (M&A) database – one of the world’s largest, according to the company – into the SPEEDA platform.

“A lot has also been said about 2014 being the most active M&A year since 2007, and how this year will be China’s biggest on record,” Jordan Krogh, associate director of global marketing and media at Uzabase, tells Tech in Asia. “One of the of the cool things about SPEEDA’s M&A is that the data source is highly reliable, so as far as tracking rumors and deals in literally any industry goes, it’s a pretty handy tool at such an interesting time in the industry.”

On top of SPEEDA, Uzabase offers a Japanese-language business news aggregation app called NewsPicks. The service was given a boost by the hiring of former Toyo Keizai Online editor-in-chief Norihiko Sasaki – the first major move from a traditional media firm to a solely digital one in Japan, says Krogh. The Weekly Toyo Keizei is considered one of Japan’s big three business magazines.

The series C funding was led by Itochu Technology Ventures and accompanied by YJ Capital, Kodansha, SMBC Venture Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and Shinsei Bank. Existing investors Globis Capital Partners, GMO Venture Partners, and Monex Ventures also increased their contributions.

See: After helping Skype and Box, Itochu Technology Ventures wants your startup to win in Japan

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Source: grossiste en ligne