Tokyo-based media startup Dely has recently secured a 3 billion yen funding round (about US$27 million) for its video-centric recipe discovery portal – Kurashiru.
This latest round follows a US$4.5 million funding round back in November 2016, which is at an interval of just less than half a year ago.
Participating investors are Jafco, Gumi Ventures, and YJ Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Yahoo Japan. While FreakOut CEO Yusuke Sato and Das Capital CEO Kimura Shinji also participated in the round as an individual investor.
Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. No announcement has yet been made about the possible change of the management structure.
Founded in April 2014, Dely initially began as a food delivery business operating on the funding they received from Anri. However, after coming to a conclusion that the outlook for such services are difficult, the startup pivoted to video curation media last year.
In February 2016, Dely fianlly released their recipe video service Kurashiru which focuses on video content and the area of recipes. Within a year, the application has gained 12,000 reviews as well as an average 4.9 points out of 5.
“We will strive to expand our business to solidify our position as the No.1 domestic recipe video service,” said Horie Yusuke. “Global development is also considered in the long term, and we are planning to promote it in conjunction with the development of the app in the domestic recipe video market.”
The company also claims that the funds will be used to develop new businesses related to the video-centic recipe marketplace as well as for the acquisitions of other companies.
By Vivian Foo, VCNewsNetwork
