Japanese Cryptocurrency Startup Orb Raises $2.3 Million

Tokyo-based startup Orb, the company behind new cryptocurrency management platform SmartCoin, has raised $2.3m in seed funding.

Orb, previously known as Coinpass, drew support from various investors including leading Japanese VC firm SBI Investment. The raise brings its total funding to ¥324m (approximately $2.7m).

Co-founder and CEO Masa Nakatsu – formerly business development manager at Groupon Japan – told CoinDesk that the funds would be used to release a new version of Orb, currently in private beta, and gain more traction for the business.

Nakatsu co-founded the startup in 2014 with Toshi Senoo, ex-CEO of Japan's largest social lending platform, Maneo, where he is thought to have secured over $140m in funding from 2007 to 2013.

Alongside SmartCoin, Orb has also introduced a decentralised cloud computing system which leverages the blockchain's authentication technology. Citing Chain, Ethereum and 21 Inc as it's main competitors, Nakatsu said he believed Orb was a "great contribution to the cryptocurrency ecosystem".

According to its website

, Orb's final goal is "to build fundamental technology for natural economic systems in a post capitalism era in order to solve four major problems in human civilisation - environmental destruction, population explosion, economic discrepancy and war".