Japan's ax holdings raises $2.4M seed to turn empty homes into care facilities
What's the deal? Tokyo-based ax holdingsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised a total of ¥370 million (roughly $2.4 million) in a seed round to convert vacant homes into care and welfare facilities. The company's subsidiary, アキヤ (Akiya)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, launched two new services — "Akiya no Kaigo" and "Akiya no Fukushi" — in August 2026.
What does the company do? Akiya acquires and renovates abandoned homes, then leases them to operators for other uses. The new services select, buy, and refit empty homes as nursing homes, group homes, and other welfare facilities, which the tenant operators then run.
Why now? Japan faces rising vacancy rates alongside a shortage of suitable housing for both elderly care and foreign workers. Akiya operates under the mission "Use Japan to the fullest" (translated from Japanese), aiming to redeploy neglected properties into uses with real demand.
Who backed it? The round drew gogin capitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Skyland VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and angel investors including Hiroki Yamada, Kiyoto Matsuda, and Kiyoto Matsuda. The raise followed a first close in August 2025, with the latest tranche completing a second close.
What's the money for? Funds will strengthen the property acquisition, renovation, and leasing operations behind the care services, expand its existing "Akiya no Kurusumu" business — housing for foreign workers — and support hiring. Since January 2025, Akiya has completed more than 100 vacant-home renovation projects.
What's the endgame? Akiya wants to run both businesses in tandem to turn empty properties into regional infrastructure for housing and care. It has already begun offering facilities in cities including Hachioji and Osaka, with nationwide coverage planned.
The signal: "Vacant homes are a major social issue in Japan, and when linked to real demand such as housing and care, they become a strong business," said Skyland Ventures general partner Yoshihiko Kinoshita (translated from Japanese). The model tests whether Japan's swelling stock of empty homes can be reworked into much-needed elderly-care capacity.
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
