Japanese sneaker sales platform SODA has landed a $22-million Series B financing round led by SoftBank Ventures
Asia, bringing the total investment in the firm to $25 million.
The deal marks SoftBank Ventures Asia’s first investment in Japan.
Participating in the round were basepartners, Colopl Next, THE GUILD and other strategic investors, according to an
announcement.
In 2018, SODA launched SNKRDUNK, which it claims is Japan’s largest sneaker C2C marketplace. SNKRDUNK’s
number of monthly users is 2.5 million. Its monthly gross merchant value last month skyrocketed over 3,000%
compared to 2019, the company said.
Proceeds from the Series B investment will be used to accelerate SODA’s global business expansion.
SODA CEO Yuta Uchiyama said the company will collaborate with SoftBank Ventures Asia’s network of AI
companies for synergies in logistics, payments, customer support and authentication.
SODA has been applying AI to automate its operations including counterfeit inspection, supplies and customer
services.
SoftBank Ventures Asia currently has $1.3 billion under management. The SoftBank Group’s early-stage venture arm
launched its latest Growth Acceleration Fund in July 2019 with a $270 million first close and secured the second close
of $341 million in December 2019.
In 2020, the fund invested in a spate of Asian companies such as South Korean payments startup CHAI, Chinese
delivery robot developer KeenOn, Indian digital wallet True Balance, Indonesia’s cloud kitchen management
company Yummy Corp and logistics startup Waresix, and Vietnamese proptech startup Propzy.
In total, it has backed more than 250 companies globally.
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