<article>Japanese hiking app <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://yamap.co.jp/">Yamap</a> has raised JPY 170 million ($1.5 million) in a Series A round, according to a <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.techinasia.com/aint-mountain-high-yamap-raises-us149m-safer-connected-hikers">report</a> published by Tech in Asia yesterday.</article>

Japanese hiking app <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://yamap.co.jp/">Yamap</a> has raised JPY 170 million ($1.5 million) in a Series A round, according to a <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.techinasia.com/aint-mountain-high-yamap-raises-us149m-safer-connected-hikers">report</a> published by Tech in Asia yesterday.
The funds were led by <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://colopl.co.jp/en/">Colopl</a>, a Japanese gaming publisher; and saw participation from Japanese venture capital firms <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.daiwa-inv.co.jp/english/">Daiwa Corporate Investment</a> and <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dogan.jp/en/">Dogan</a>.
The company intends to expand into the US, says Yoshi Haruyama, founder and CEO, Yamap.
Currently, the iOS and Android mobile app service is available internationally, meaning anyone can easily download the app and its services. However, the catch is that most of the posts on the app are in Japanese, making it extra difficult for Yamap and its team to build a tight-knitted community outside Japan.
With Yamap, hikers can find out where they are without an Internet connection, essentially using GPS and data from maps to pinpoint their location. Users can also build an outdoor journal, where they use the app to keep photos of their hiking trips, that can be uploaded to the Internet as well.
Officially launched in March 2013, Yamap is said to have 260,000 downloads and 160,000 active users. Active users are said to be those that have written or viewed a journal entry, with no time period specified.
Since then, it has also started <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.yamap.gears">Yamap Gears</a>, a m-commerce store for outdoor equipment, and <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://hyakkei.me/">Hyakkei</a>, an online publication centered around outdoor adventures.
In 2013, Yamap also received $40,000 in seed funding from <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.samurai-incubate.asia/">Samurai Incubate</a>, a Japanese fund with its eye on early stage startups.
Deal Street Asia has reached out to Yoshi Haruyama for more details.
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Japanese hiking app Yamap raises $1.5 million in a Series A round, led by Colopl, a Japanese gaming publisher and other Japanese VC firms.

Japanese offline GPS app Yamap raises $1.5m in Series A round

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Japanese offline GPS app Yamap raises $1.5m in Series A round

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