WAKEI closes seed round with Hotai family fund and MicroAd

WAKEI Inc. has completed a seed round backed by Ho-Chwan Investment, the co-founding family fund of Taiwan’s Hotai Group, and Tokyo-listed MicroAd. The funding sets up WAKEI’s launch of an independent trading desk aimed at cross-border adtech growth between Japan and Taiwan.

Why it matters: - WAKEI is positioning itself at the intersection of Japan-Taiwan marketing, where app, connected TV and digital out-of-home ad spending is shifting away from web-first buying. - The seed round gives WAKEI capital and strategic backers for an independent trading desk model that is still rare in Japan. - WAKEI’s total capitalization, including capital surplus, now stands at about JPY 130 million.

What happened: - WAKEI Inc. announced it has completed its seed funding round. - Investors include Ho-Chwan Investment Co., Ltd., the investment vehicle of the co-founding family of Hotai Group, and MicroAd, Inc. (TSE Growth: 9553). - WAKEI was founded in October 2025 and is headquartered in Tokyo. - The company operates a Japan-Taiwan cross-border digital marketing business.

The details: - Ho-Chwan Investment is tied to Hotai Group, Taiwan’s largest mobility conglomerate and exclusive distributor of Toyota, Lexus and Hino. - Ho-Chwan Investment supports Taiwan’s digital ecosystem through portfolio companies including Invos Data and Funliday. - Invos Data has 9 million downloads and 4 billion purchase data records. - Funliday is a travel platform used by Taiwanese visitors to Japan. - MicroAd was founded in 2007 as a CyberAgent spin-out and listed on the TSE Growth Market in 2022. - MicroAd operates UNIVERSE, a consumer behavior data platform that aggregates signals from more than 220 enterprise partners. - WAKEI says its early business has connected Taiwanese inbound tourists in Japan with retail and brand offers through coupon-based reward advertising and consumer purchase data from Ho-Chwan’s portfolio companies. - WAKEI’s next step is a full launch of its Independent Trading Desk business. - The ITD is a platform-agnostic programmatic buying operation that works directly with major DSPs for advertisers and avoids media-owner conflicts of interest. - WAKEI says the ITD will cover app, CTV, DOOH and web inventory through one buying operation. - The company’s website is More information.

Between the lines: - The seed round pairs local market access in Taiwan with programmatic adtech infrastructure from Japan. - That combination is meant to help WAKEI compete in markets where advertisers want transparent access to multiple inventory types and better cross-border execution. - CEO Takeshi Iryo’s background spans Sankei Shimbun, All About, Rakuten, Appier, Mobvista, InMobi and Outbrain, which signals deep operating experience across Japan and Asia. - The investor mix also suggests a bet on WAKEI as a bridge between Japanese advertisers, Taiwanese consumer data and regional digital inventory.

What’s next: - WAKEI plans to launch its ITD business at full scale in Japan and Taiwan. - The company will continue building its cross-border marketing business alongside the ITD rollout. - Management expects the new structure to expand WAKEI’s reach across the Japan-Taiwan marketing corridor.

The bottom line: - WAKEI is turning a seed round into a broader platform play, using Taiwan-Japan relationships and adtech capabilities to build a cross-border programmatic business.