Sake maker WAKAZE raises early VC to scale its tap cocktail business
What's the deal? Tokyo-based sake maker WAKAZEDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised an early-stage round led by Partners FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with seven other new investors including TransDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, EuglenaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Alue, AAAAADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Tomorrow Company, and Soup Stock TokyoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The company will use the money to scale up manufacturing and sales for its tap cocktail business, which supplies kegged drinks to restaurants and hotels.
What's the endgame? WAKAZE makes keg-based cocktails and sours that venues pour from a tap, like beer. It holds a liqueur production license and draws on its fermentation and Japanese-ingredient expertise to offer nearly 30 recipes — from lemon sour and gin tonic to drinks using wasabi, shiso, and Japanese black tea.
Why now? The pitch is operational as much as culinary: pre-batched cocktails cut labour by letting staff serve consistent drinks without mixing each glass. "Being able to offer quality cocktails at a reasonable price, straight from the tap, is a big weapon for restaurants," said Nagata, a director at Mothers (translated from Japanese), citing demand from international guests.
Alongside the raise, WAKAZE renamed the business from "SummerFall Tap Cocktails" to "WAKAZE Tap Cocktails," returning to its founding brand. By October 2026, the service was running in dozens of hotels, restaurants, and bars, including THE NIKKA WHISKY TOKYO and MIKKELLER TOKYO, plus a company-run bar in Shibuya. Recipes are supervised by Atsushi Suzuki of Bellwood, a World's 50 Best Bars pick, and the firm has built custom drinks for Moët Hennessy Japan using Hennessy and Belvedere.
Where the money goes: WAKAZE plans to open its own factory in Tokyo, targeting full operation by early 2027, and to add one-way kegs that skip keg returns and special couplers. It will also hire sales staff, run monthly corporate tastings, and exhibit at trade shows such as HCJ2027.
What's the endgame, longer term? The company aims to grow its catalogue past 100 SKUs and expand beyond cocktails into sours and other drinks that normally require in-house prep. Founder and chief executive officer Takuma Inagawa framed the move as a return to roots as a "Japanese-style alcohol maker," after earlier ventures in craft sake in Tokyo and brewing in France and the US.
The signal: WAKAZE is pivoting from a sake-led identity toward solving a restaurant-industry problem — labour shortages at the drink station. "This business could be a first step in changing the industry's profit structure," said Minori Hirata, a senior associate at Partners Fund, noting that food service has digitised booking and payments but not yet the making of food and drinks. The evidence so far points to early commercial rollout rather than a proven industry-wide shift.
Read more: prtimes.jp
Image credit: lauren.topor
