# Shogo Kawada

> Shogo Kawada is a seed investor at DeNA (Tokyo) backing Software, SaaS and Apps. See 22 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [DeNA](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dena)
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
- Total investments: 22
- Last investment: Aug 2023
- Lead investor: 9%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kawada-shogo-04b99a52
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/shgk
- Website: https://x.com/shgk
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shogo.kawada.7

Shogo Kawada is a seed investor at DeNA in Tokyo focused on Software and SaaS. Shogo Kawada is Co-founder and Adviser of DeNA, a global Internet company focused on a social games platform, social games, e-commerce and other Web services for mobile devices and PCs.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $360k–$14M |
| Angel | $709k–$4M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 6 | 27% |
| SaaS | 4 | 18% |
| Apps | 2 | 9% |
| News | 2 | 9% |
| Mobile | 2 | 9% |

52 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 9 | 41% |
| Funding Round | 5 | 23% |
| Angel | 3 | 14% |
| Series B | 2 | 9% |
| Series A | 1 | 5% |

6 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Japan | 15 | 68% |
| United States | 3 | 14% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IVA | IVA ensures the safety of the market towards the threat of counterfeit goods. | $4.5M | Seed | Aug 09, 2023 |  |
| Spider Labs | Spider AF is an ad fraud detection tool that detects, blocks, and protects web advertisements from fraudulent clicks and conversions. Advertisers can easily detect fraudulent activity across published ads using centralized fraud management and advanced automation. Spider AF provides complete transparency in digital advertising, allowing advertisersto track ad placement, identify fraudulent behaviors, and analyze clean - fraud-free data.The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Tokyo, Japan. | $9.2M | Seed | Apr 17, 2018 |  |
| Sunblaze | sunblaze is a android-based smartphone users begin to experience stability issues after one to two years of use. For example, their device may get slower or they encounter unexpected app crashes. These stability issues also lead to security vulnerabilities.SUNBLAZE OS features essential functions only, meaning it does not have any unnecessaryfunctions. This allows the system to be more stable and secure, and users are able to use it for a longer period of time. | $2.8M | Seed | Feb 04, 2018 |  |
| Voicy | Voicy is a mobile platform that recruits both media personalities and news organizations, the entertainers read the news so users can get the latest info from favorite voices. As it enters the age of IoT, interfaces have begun to evolve into seamless forms, such as AR, that allow to access information without stopping daily lives, but in this era,it has focused on the ear. | $4M | Angel | Feb 02, 2018 |  |
| Sunblaze | sunblaze is a android-based smartphone users begin to experience stability issues after one to two years of use. For example, their device may get slower or they encounter unexpected app crashes. These stability issues also lead to security vulnerabilities.SUNBLAZE OS features essential functions only, meaning it does not have any unnecessaryfunctions. This allows the system to be more stable and secure, and users are able to use it for a longer period of time. | $2.8M |  | Jan 26, 2018 |  |
| Yappli | Yappli is a Tokyo-based B2B SaaS software company that provides an online platform to easily build, manage, and analyze enterprise-grade native mobile applications without the need for coding skills. The company is on a T2D3 growth path with notable clients such as The North Face, GYAO, Azul by Moussy, and Cartoon Network. Yappli is changing theapp development industry through its innovative and creative solutions. The online platform allows users to construct a UI from scratch and maintain full control over the way the app looks and feels. Along with giving the user full control, Yappli has numerous API relations and external services to further reinforce the app experience. Yappli is a neutral platform for app development and management, so the users will have full ownership in terms of the account and app management. These features along with a dedicated support team can help companies effortlessly design the perfect app, all without coding knowledge.Notable Awards: 5th place in CLOUD TOP10 Forbes Japan 2020; 7th place at Deloitte Fast 50 Japan 2018; 2nd place at SLUSH ASIA in 2015; Won AWS award at Tech in Asia Tokyo 2015 | $95M | Series B | Oct 16, 2017 |  |
| Symmetry Dimensions | Symmetry Dimensions Inc. aims to digitize real-world events and make them easy to use for everyone. We are progressing communications in smart city and urban planning with the development of a digital twin that enables a virtual reproduction of static and dynamic events happening in the real world along with the provision of a digitalinfrastructure that allows anyone to easily access such data. | $15.6M | Convertible Note | Jun 02, 2016 |  |
| Yappli | Yappli is a Tokyo-based B2B SaaS software company that provides an online platform to easily build, manage, and analyze enterprise-grade native mobile applications without the need for coding skills. The company is on a T2D3 growth path with notable clients such as The North Face, GYAO, Azul by Moussy, and Cartoon Network. Yappli is changing theapp development industry through its innovative and creative solutions. The online platform allows users to construct a UI from scratch and maintain full control over the way the app looks and feels. Along with giving the user full control, Yappli has numerous API relations and external services to further reinforce the app experience. Yappli is a neutral platform for app development and management, so the users will have full ownership in terms of the account and app management. These features along with a dedicated support team can help companies effortlessly design the perfect app, all without coding knowledge.Notable Awards: 5th place in CLOUD TOP10 Forbes Japan 2020; 7th place at Deloitte Fast 50 Japan 2018; 2nd place at SLUSH ASIA in 2015; Won AWS award at Tech in Asia Tokyo 2015 | $46.8M | Series A | Sep 01, 2015 |  |
| Wantedly | Wantedly is a Tokyo-based startup that uses the web to make work the most exciting it’s ever been.Wantedly is a social recruiting platform that allows users to find interesting jobs based on their social graphs.To make this happen,Wantedly has created a platform where people and companies meet based on passion and values, rather than money orbenefits. | $28.3M |  | Jun 12, 2015 |  |
| BASKET | BASKET is an internet-based home delivery cleaning service company. |  | Seed | Apr 30, 2015 |  |

10 of 22 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [YJ Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/yj-capital) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [500 Global](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/500-startups) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Digital Garage](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/digital-ga) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Globis Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/globis-capital-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [500 Startups Japan](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/500startups-japan) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Adways](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/adways) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About DeNA

VC Fund · Tokyo, Japan

DeNA provides a social game platform, social games, e-commerce, and other Web services for mobile devices and PCs. Its current flagship business is its mobile social games platform Mobage which offers first, second, and third-party games on multiple localized player networks worldwide.

5 contacts available at DeNA.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Jun Oi | Executive Officer, Head of Business Planning Division | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/oi-jun |
| Shogo Kawada | Adviser | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/shogo-kawada |
| Tomoko Namba | Executive Chairman | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/tomoko-namba |
| Tomoya Ogawa | Executive Officer, SVP | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/tomoya-ogawa |
| Isao Moriyasu | President / CEO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/isao-moriyasu |

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## FAQ

### What does Shogo Kawada invest in?

Shogo Kawada invests primarily in Software, SaaS and Apps startups, most often at Seed and Funding Round stage. Most of the 22 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Shogo Kawada's check size?

Shogo Kawada typically joins rounds of $360k–$14M at Seed and $709k–$4M at Angel. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Shogo Kawada participates in.

### When did Shogo Kawada last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Shogo Kawada closed in Aug 2023. Shizune tracks 22 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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