Japan's Josan-she's raises $2.6M Series A to build a midwife care platform
What's the deal? Tokyo-based Josan-sheDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s has raised US$3.08M in a Series A round led by WPower Fund. The round brings the startup's total funding to roughly US$5.23M.
Who's backing it? New investors include NEXTBLUEDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → TOKYO Investment LLP, FFG Venture Business PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Daiwa House VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Sekisui HouseDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Investment LLP, and angel investors. Existing backers NEXTBLUE 2 Investment LLP and FFG Venture Business Partners followed on from the previous round.
What does it do? Founded in 2021 by chief executive officer Aiko Watanabe, the company runs a platform of some 3,000 midwives. It offers postpartum care facilities, home-visit babysitting for young infants, and staffing services for maternity clinics.
Why now? Josan-she's targets two linked problems: families lacking reliable support after birth, and qualified midwives lacking flexible work. It estimates about 60% of midwives leave the profession, their skills going unused.
What's the endgame? The company wants postpartum support treated as standard social infrastructure rather than a special service. The funding will expand its facilities, home-visit, and staffing services, which it says still fall short of demand.
Market backdrop: Japan's birth count rose 0.8% year-on-year in the first half of 2026 — the first such increase in 11 years, according to WPower Fund's Miwa Seki and Chion Ishikawa. They note postpartum care is already established in South Korea and expanding fast in China, while professional options remain limited in Japan.
The signal: Investors are betting that women's healthcare built around qualified professionals can work as a business, not just a policy goal. As NEXTBLUE partner Saki Oshima put it, few startups have turned Japan's postpartum tailwinds into "a sustainable business."
Image credit: DFID - UK Department for International Development
