# The Asahi Shimbun Company

> The Asahi Shimbun Company is a VC fund in Tokyo backing Apps and Big Data. See 5 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
- Total investments: 5
- Last investment: Jun 2025
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/asahi
- Website: http://www.asahi.com/shimbun/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asahicom/

The Asahi Shimbun Company is a VC fund in Tokyo focused on Apps and Big Data. The Asahi Shimbun, which was first published in 1879, is one of Japan’s leading newspapers. They strive not only to protect both peace and democracy but also to strengthen them, and to serve the community and the people as a “company with vision and purpose.” That is The Asahi Shimbun Company’s core purpose—their point of origin.The Asahi Shimbunhas an extensive news-gathering network that provides seamless coverage every day. In Japan, there are general bureaus and bureaus in all 47 prefectures; with an additional 5 general bureaus and 29 bureaus in place around the world. All in all, there are 320 domestic and global news-gathering bases.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for The Asahi Shimbun Company. Shizune tracks 2 team members at The Asahi Shimbun Company. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/the-asahi-shimbun-company?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Apps | 2 | 40% |
| Big Data | 2 | 40% |
| Art | 1 | 20% |
| SaaS | 1 | 20% |
| Video | 1 | 20% |

17 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series C | 2 | 40% |
| Seed | 1 | 20% |
| Series A | 1 | 20% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 20% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Japan | 4 | 80% |
| United States | 1 | 20% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Hiro Nozawa | Manager of Silicon Valley Office | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hiro-nozawa |
| Ueno Riichi | Founder | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ueno-riichi |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MyDearest | MyDearest is a Full dive product planning and development company | $2.3M | Series C | Jun 02, 2025 |  |
| Binded | Binded lets creators claim their copyrights on the blockchain and protect them for free. A creator uploads their art or photos to Binded via our website or integrations with creative tools like Instagram. We create a timestamp in the Bitcoin blockchain and give a​ certificate as proof. We are developing technology to create uniquefingerprints for all copyrighted works and store them on the blockchain. Like Youtube’s Content ID system for the entire internet. For every copyright claimed, we scan the web and show matches for possible copyright infringement. In 5 years we hope to be the main way copyrights are registered and utilized. | $950K | Seed | May 24, 2017 |  |
| ookami | Ookami provides Player, a sport media application. It is a startup that creates new value of sports by harmonizing individuals and IT technology. The company offers technology solutions, with a particular focus in financial services software, application and communication software, software as a service, and online social networking services. | $19.9M | Series A | Mar 14, 2017 |  |
| Fuller | Fuller is a software development company that builds mobile phone applications and provides internet media services. The company’s products include App Ape Analytics and App Ape Lab.App Ape Analytics is a trend research and analysis app that investigates the usage of Android terminal, and offers the viewing rate data; the number of active usersof the application; and user attribute information such as the user’s age gender, the user who is in possession of the application, and more.App Ape Lab analyzes the trends and offers real-time information of the app market.Fuller was founded in 2011 and is based in Chiba, Japan. | $4.2M | Series C | Jul 20, 2016 |  |
| Corporation building block | TSUMIKI provider of social film review services. The company provides Filmarks, a social movie review service for movie fans where users can post their reviews, tag movie clips matching their interests and read reviews by friends and other users. | $14.2M |  | Jan 20, 2014 |  |

5 of 5 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Aisaac](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/aisaac) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Awagin Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/awagin-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [FFG Venture Business Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ffg-venture-business-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Global Catalyst Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/global-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [STRIVE](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gree-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Spiral Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/imj-fenox-pte-ltd) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## FAQ

### What does The Asahi Shimbun Company invest in?

The Asahi Shimbun Company invests primarily in Apps, Big Data and Art startups, most often at Series C and Seed stage. Most of the 5 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact The Asahi Shimbun Company?

Public channels for The Asahi Shimbun Company include X (Twitter), the website linked on this profile and Facebook. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at The Asahi Shimbun Company?

The team at The Asahi Shimbun Company includes Hiro Nozawa (Manager of Silicon Valley Office) and Ueno Riichi (Founder). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### 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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