<article>Japanese design agency Goodpath has raised a Series C round while HR startup POL has secured a seed round.</article>

Japanese design agency Goodpath has raised a Series C round while HR startup POL has secured a seed round.
<h3>Goodpath raises $3.6m Series C</h3>
Tokyo-based Japanese UX/UI design agency Goodpatch has closed a JPY 400 million yen ($3.57 million) Series C round from <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/sbi-investment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SBI Investment</a>, through its SBI FinTech Fund, and <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/Mitsui-Sumitomo-Insurance-Capital" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital</a>.
Incepted in August 2011, the firms follows a $1 million Series A round in December 2013 and a $3.5 million Series B round in February 2016. This latest transaction will also see it invest in a project to improve the UX/UI design of SBI Investment’s SBI Securities, with Goodpatch launching an in-house UX/UI design team specialised in the fintech domain.
<h3>HR database startup POL raises $447k</h3>
Tokyo-based startup POL, which operates a human resource (HR) database consisting of science students called <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://labbase.jp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LabBase</a>, has secured JPY 50 million ($447,100) yen in a seed round led by <a class="" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/beenext" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beenext</a> with participation from <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/cyberagent-ventures" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CyberAgent Ventures</a>, <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/draper-nexus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Draper Nexus</a>, <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/tag/beyond-next-ventures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beyond Next Ventures</a>, and angel investors.
According to POL, it will strengthen their system development process with proceeds from this funding round.
POL was set up in September 2016 by Michiaki Kamo, a serial entrepreneur involved in launching the Bivie online diet service.
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The field, labeled “Lab x Tech” or “Lab Tech”, sees firms like Acaric in Singapore competing with POL in Japan. Other startups in the US operating in this space are ResearchGate, Figshare, The Center for Open Science, and the Science Exchange.
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Goodpath has raised a Series C round and POL has raised a seed round. 

Japan Dealbook: Design agency Goodpath, HR startup POL raise funding

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Japan Dealbook: Design agency Goodpath, HR startup POL raise funding

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