A unicorn is a startup marked at USD 1 Billion or more. These are highly innovative and market disruptive startups. Japan has more than 55.6K+ startups. Of these, 10 have become Unicorns, with the latest entrant to the club being Sakana on Sep 04, 2024. In 2026, Japan has seen no new unicorn startups.
Globally, Japan is number 19 in terms of total Unicorns created, behind Ireland (10 unicorns) at rank 18 and Indonesia (13 unicorns) at rank 17. Tokyo leads the list of cities in Japan with most unicorns at 4. It is followed by Chiyoda City (1 unicorn) and Chiyoda-ku (1 unicorn). Among sectors, High Tech has seen the most unicorns created at 4, followed by Enterprise Applications at 3, and Consumer at 3
Here is a list of all 10 unicorns created in Japan:
10. Sakana
Sakana joined the Unicorn Club on Sep 04, 2024 after raising a $114M Series A funding round led by KDDI, NEC, ITOCHU.
Sakana AI is a Tokyo-based R&D company founded by former Google AI engineers, David Ha and Llion Jones. Inspired by nature, Sakana AI aims to design collective artificial intelligence models.
Key facts about Sakana
- Founded Year: 2023
- Location: Tokyo (Japan)
- Stage: Series B
- Primary Sector: AI Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence
- Time to Unicorn: 1 year 8 months
- Top investors : Nomura, Macquarie
- Valuation: $*****
- Total Funding till date: $379M
- Employee Count: 250 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Mar 25, 2026, $*****
9. LY
LY joined the Unicorn Club on Dec 15, 2023
Developer of mobile communication app. It provides solutions for connecting with people for different parts of the globe. It is also associated with development, operation, and advertisement of mobile applications, including communication contents and entertainment.
Key facts about LY
- Founded Year: 1996
- Location: Chiyoda City (Japan)
- Stage: Public
- Primary Sector: Marketing Services and Communication Apps
- Time to Unicorn: 27 years 11 months
- Employee Count: 3,984 as on Jun 30, 2026
8. Go
Go joined the Unicorn Club on May 24, 2023 after raising a $72.2M Series D funding round led by Goldman Sachs, valuing it at $1B.
Key facts about Go
- Founded Year: 1977
- Location: Minato (Japan)
- Stage: Public
- Primary Sector: IT Services
- Time to Unicorn: 46 years 4 months
- Top investors : Goldman Sachs, Mirai Creation Fund
- Total Funding till date: $72.2M
- Employee Count: 139 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Latest Funding Round: Series D, Oct 27, 2023, $*****
7. Spiber
Spiber joined the Unicorn Club on Sep 08, 2021 after raising a $313M Series E funding round led by The Carlyle Group, valuing it at $1.22B.
Provider of sustainable fabric materials. It develops microbially fermented brewed protein-based yarns. It uses plant-derived biomass and a fermentation process including sugar and microbes to develop its products. It has applications in the textile industry.
Key facts about Spiber
- Founded Year: 2007
- Location: Tsuruoka (Japan)
- Stage: Series E
- Primary Sector: Advanced Materials, Fashion Tech and Textile Yarn
- Time to Unicorn: 14 years 8 months
- Top investors : Fidelity Investments, Baillie Gifford
- Valuation: $*****
- Total Funding till date: $489M
- Employee Count: 82 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Latest Funding Round: Series E, Apr 12, 2024, $*****
6. SmartHR
SmartHR joined the Unicorn Club on May 21, 2021
Platform that offers HR management solutions. It is a company focused on providing technology solutions for human resources and labor management. The platform features in smart HR that includes solutions such as recruitment management, personnel evluation, layout simulation, employee surveys and more.
Key facts about SmartHR
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Tokyo (Japan)
- Stage: Series E
- Primary Sector: HRTech
- Time to Unicorn: 8 years 4 months
- Top investors : Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic
- Valuation: $*****
- Total Funding till date: $328M
- Employee Count: 512 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Latest Funding Round: Series E, Jun 30, 2024, $*****
5. Playco
Playco joined the Unicorn Club on Sep 21, 2020 after raising a $100M Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital, valuing it at $1B.
Developer of social web games for PC and console. It offers web-based games which include Sway stories, Heads up, and Asks away. Trip royale, Snake squad, Cat life, and others.
Key facts about Playco
- Founded Year: 2020
- Location: Tokyo (Japan)
- Stage: Series A
- Primary Sector: Gaming Tech and PC & Console Gaming
- Time to Unicorn: 8 months
- Top investors : Sequoia Capital, La Maison Partners
- Valuation: $*****
- Total Funding till date: $100M
- Employee Count: 68 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Sep 21, 2020, $*****
4. Liquid
Liquid joined the Unicorn Club on Apr 03, 2019 after raising a Undisclosed Series C funding round led by IDG Capital, valuing it at $1B.
Liquid provides an online exchange platform for digital assets. Offers crypto-to-crypto, fiat-to-crypto, and crypto-to-fiat exchange service. It supports various cryptocurrency pairs such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc. It also offers financial services and cryptocurrency liquidity. It features an app-based platform that is available for both Android and IOS devices.
Key facts about Liquid
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Japan
- Stage: Acquired
- Primary Sector: Cryptocurrencies
- Time to Unicorn: 5 years 3 months
- Top investors : Mistletoe, BITMAIN
- Annual Revenue: SGD 10M - 50M as on Mar 31, 2019
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Total Funding till date: $20M
- Employee Count: 14 as on Jul 31, 2026
- Latest Funding Round: Conventional Debt, 2021, $*****
Preferred Infrastructure joined the Unicorn Club on Aug 04, 2017 after raising a $95.1M Series C funding round led by toyota-global.com.
Developer of AI infrastructure, foundation models, and product solutions. The company develops AI semiconductors, computing infrastructure, generative AI models, and AI product solutions. It researches and develops new technologies, applying them across industries. The company provides AI products and solutions for various sectors.
Key facts about Preferred Infrastructure
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Tokyo (Japan)
- Stage: Series D
- Primary Sector: AI Infrastructure, Digital ICs and Artificial Intelligence
- Time to Unicorn: 3 years 7 months
- Top investors : TBS Innovation Partners, MUFG
- Annual Revenue: $50M - $100M as on Dec 31, 2021
- Valuation: $*****
- Total Funding till date: $281M
- Latest Funding Round: Series D, Apr 30, 2025, $*****
Data Direct Networks Japan joined the Unicorn Club on Jun 13, 2017
Provider of IT storage solutions. It has created systems, software, and storage solutions that help businesses, service providers, academic institutions, and government organisations to get greater value and quicken the time to insight from the data and information, both on-premises and in the cloud. To gather, store, process, analyse, collaborate, and share data, information, and content at the greatest scale organisations use the power of DDN storage technology and the deep technical expertise of its staff.
Key facts about Data Direct Networks Japan
- Founded Year: 2008
- Location: Chiyoda-ku (Japan)
- Stage: Unfunded
- Primary Sector: Enterprise Storage
- Time to Unicorn: 9 years 5 months
- Employee Count: 500 - 999 as on Mar 01, 2026
1. Mercari
Mercari joined the Unicorn Club on Mar 02, 2016 after raising a $75M Series D funding round, valuing it at $1B.
Online marketplace platform for used multi-category products. The platform allows users to buy and sell products from different categories like fashion, beauty, sports, electronics, books, pet supplies, art supplies, home decor, office supplies, and more. The mobile application is available for Android and iOS users.
Key facts about Mercari
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Minato City (Japan)
- Stage: Public
- Primary Sector: Horizontal E-Commerce
- Time to Unicorn: 3 years 2 months
- Top investors : World Innovation Lab, Mitsui
- Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Jun 30, 2026
- Total Funding till date: $114M
- Employee Count: 1,782 as on May 31, 2026
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Oct 12, 2020, $*****
