BioSpace | August 2, 2019: Rakuten Medical announced it had raised $100 million in a Series C-1 Preferred Stock financing. The financing came from Rakuten, an internet services company based in Tokyo. This raise increased Rakuten’s equity share of Rakuten Medical to 22.5%.
Rakuten Medical was formerly called Aspyrian Therapeutics. Since launching in 2015, it has raised almost $500 million. The name change took place earlier this year and was related to the extensive investment by Mickey Mikitani, the Japanese billionaire who founded and ran online retailer Rakuten. Mikitani plans to expand the strategic connections between Rakuten Medical and Rakuten. Mikitani is chairman and chief executive officer of Rakuten Medical.
