About UPWARD
UPWARD is a Technology company based in Tokyo (Japan) founded in 2002 by Ryusuke Kanagi. It operates as a field sales program management software. UPWARD has raised $11 million across 5 funding rounds from investors including Nippon Venture Capital, DNX Ventures and SMBC Venture Capital. Its chief executive is Ryusuke Kanagi. Its website upward.jp draws about 15 thousand monthly visits. Its focus areas include Enterprise Applications, Sales Force Automation, Field Sales Software and Field Force Automation. Its competitors include Spring Global, Salesforce Maps, Skynamo, Spotio and FieldAssist and 3 more; 6 of its 8 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
UPWARD was founded in 2002 in Tokyo, Japan, and specializes in software for field sales program management. Cloud-based customer relationship management solutions are provided, utilizing smart devices and location information. Geographical information systems (GIS) and location-based services are designed and developed, including location and positioning suites. Operations focus on the technology sector, serving clients such as Asahi, PayPay, and Duskin.
- Total Equity Funding$11M (USD)
in 5 rounds
- InvestorsNippon Venture Capital
& 5 more
Apps and channels of UPWARD
its YouTube channel UPWARD has 517 subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from UPWARD
The most watched videos on UPWARD's YouTube channel, UPWARD (517 subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on UPWARD.
Funding Insights of UPWARD
UPWARD has successfully raised a total of $11M across 5 strategic funding rounds. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $11M
- Total Rounds 5
- First Round $307,920
(Jun 2013)
- Investors Count 6
All 5 funding rounds of UPWARD with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | – | Series C | – | – | – |
| Jul 2025 | $8.14M | Series C | – | – | |
| Jul 2016 | $1.88M | Series B | – | Nippon Venture Capital, DNX Ventures | – |
| Jun 2014 | $668,787 | Series B | – | SMBC Venture Capital, CyberAgent Capital | – |
| Jun 2013 | $307,920 | Seed | – | – | – |
6 investors in total: 6 institutional.
Investors in UPWARD
UPWARD has secured backing from 6 investors, including venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Nippon Venture Capital, DNX Ventures and SMBC Venture Capital.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
VC firm investing in Japan and the US | – | nvcc.co.jp | Chiyoda City, Japan | |
Investments in B2B sectors are made by DNX Ventures. | – | dnx.vc | San Mateo, United States | |
- | – | smbc-vc.co.jp | - | |
Investments in tech startups are provided by CyberAgent Capital. | – | cyberagentcapital.com | Tokyo, Japan | |
Venture capital fund focused on growth stage companies | – | j-vgi.co.jp | Minato City, Japan | |
Early-stage tech startups are funded by corporate-backed Salesforce Ventures. | – | salesforceventures.com | San Francisco, United States |
Investor details for UPWARD
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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- Round participation
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People of UPWARD
1 people are tracked at UPWARD (1 in leadership).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Ryusuke Kanagi | Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Complete people profiles for UPWARD
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
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Timeline of UPWARD
3 dated milestones of UPWARD across 23 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded UPWARD is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $308K.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series C,.
Competitors of UPWARD
UPWARD has 8 listed competitors in our database, 6 of them funded. They include Spring Global, Salesforce Maps, Skynamo, Spotio and FieldAssist, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| springglobal.com | 2001 | Reston, United States | $115.07M | – | Cloud-based field sales automation solutions are provided for teams. | |
| mapanything.com | 2009 | Charlotte, United States | $82.9M | 141 | Provider of data mapping and geo-analytics software | |
| skynamo.com | 2012 | Cape Town, South Africa | $32.14M | – | Field sales management software | |
| spotio.com | 2014 | Dallas, United States | $4.5M | 25 | Cloud-based field sales engagement software is delivered for mobile tracking. | |
| fieldassist.com | 2014 | Gurugram, India | – | 377 | Provider of cloud-based sales force automation and distributor management software | |
| badgermapping.com | 2012 | San Francisco, United States | – | 17 | Sales mapping solutions to improve employee productivity | |
| advotics.com | 2016 | Jakarta, Indonesia | $5.45M | – | Cloud-based platform for field sales management is provided. | |
| pepupsales.com | 2010 | Gurugram, India | $1.1M | 60 | Mobile sales force automation is facilitated for enterprise tracking. |
Detailed competitors of UPWARD
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
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Web traffic of UPWARD
The website of UPWARD (upward.jp) receives about 15.3K visits a month and ranks #1,584,055 among all websites worldwide, #7,091 in Marketing and Advertising.
- Monthly visits15.3K
▲ 3.7% vs previous month
- Unique visitors8.2K
per month
- Global rank#1,584,055
among all websites
- Category rank#7,091
Business and Consumer Services · Marketing and Advertising
- Bounce rate57%
- Pages per visit2.2
- Average visit2 min 33 sec
- DevicesDesktop 53% · Mobile 47%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with UPWARD. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
up-ward.info | up-ward.info | 100% | – | #5,679,761 | – |
sherpaworks.jp | sherpaworks.jp | 79% | – | #4,120,412 | – |
islandbrain.co.jp | islandbrain.co.jp | 79% | – | #2,593,846 | – |
goleadgrid.com | goleadgrid.com | 79% | – | #449,933 | – |
onemarketing.jp | onemarketing.jp | 79% | – | #1,769,015 | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for UPWARD
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 40 similar websites
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- Traffic by brand
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Top companies in Sales Force Automation
10 companies that operate in the same segment as UPWARD (Sales Force Automation), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Provider of AI-powered customer relationship management software | 2005 | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States | USD 100.7 M | USD 3.13 B | 8,250 | |
Contact databases and sales intelligence are supplied to businesses. | 2000 | Vancouver, Washington, United States | USD 32 M | USD 1.25 B | 3,510 | |
Sales prospecting and engagement tools are offered to enterprises. | 2011 | Atlanta, Georgia, United States | USD 246.48 M | – | 1,121 | |
Cloud-based CRM and collaboration solutions are provided for enterprises. | 1999 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 52 M | USD 37.9 B | 76,450 | |
Cloud and AI-based electronic signatures and contract management are provided. | 2003 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 520 M | USD 3.22 B | 6,840 | |
Cloud-based business process management suite solutions are delivered. | 2010 | San Mateo, California, United States | USD 400.05 M | USD 838.81 M | 4,500 | |
AI-powered CRM for marketing and sales management is provided. | 1996 | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India | – | USD 1.6 B | 17,856 | |
Lead management platform with analytics and engagement tools is provided. | 2015 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 250.42 M | – | 928 | |
Cloud and AI-based sales enablement platforms are provided for teams. | 2010 | San Diego, California, United States | USD 440 M | – | 1,522 | |
Business card management software for enterprises | 2007 | Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan | USD 118.47 M | USD 337.55 M | 2,230 |
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Related news about Upward
Complete news archive for UPWARD
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
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- Brand-specific news history
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Frequently Asked Questions about UPWARD
UPWARD was founded in 2002 and raised its 1st funding round 11 years after it was founded.
UPWARD is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is registered at Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Ryusuke Kanagi is the current CEO of UPWARD. They have also founded this company.
UPWARD is a funded company, having raised a total of $11M across 5 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $307.92K, raised on Jun 2013.
UPWARD was founded in 2002 in Tokyo, Japan, and specializes in software for field sales program management. Cloud-based customer relationship management solutions are provided, utilizing smart devices and location information. Geographical information systems (GIS) and location-based services are designed and developed, including location and positioning suites. Operations focus on the technology sector, serving clients such as Asahi, PayPay, and Duskin.
UPWARD's top competitors include Spring Global, Spotio and Salesforce Maps.
UPWARD has 6 investors. Key investors include Nippon Venture Capital, DNX Ventures, SMBC Venture Capital, CyberAgent Capital, and JIC Venture Growth Investments.

