株式会社Buzzreach
Tokyo, JP · Founded 2017 · 10 employees on LinkedIn · 12 known investors
Buzzreach is a Japanese startup that builds SaaS platforms connecting pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions with patients to support clinical trials and post-launch marketing. It promotes a "DRO" (Digital Research Organization) model using patient-matching via electronic medical records, AI-generated trial documents, decentralized clinical trials, and a patient-centric social network called "miilike."
Also known as Buzzreach · BUZZREACH Inc. · バズリーチ
Founders & leadership
株式会社Buzzreach was founded in 2017 by Inokawa.
Investors · 12
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Also in the syndicate · 7
Company profile
researched Aug 2026株式会社Buzzreach (BUZZREACH Inc.) is a Tokyo-based health-tech company that develops and sells SaaS systems for clinical trials, clinical research and post-approval patient engagement in the pharmaceutical sector. Its offering is organized around the "StudyWorks Platform", an integrated operations platform covering trial project management, feasibility research and site selection, trial information disclosure, subject recruitment, and medication/visit management for participants. Individual products include Study Works, a trial operations management tool designed around the workflows of clinical research coordinators (CRC) and clinical research associates (CRA) that centralizes coordination among pharmaceutical companies, CROs, patients and hospital departments; "P.R. – Patient Recruitment –", a recruitment solution that uses real-world and electronic medical record data to optimize target sites and give real-time visibility into recruitment progress; "smt", a trial information registration, disclosure and matching function that lets patients search trials, find implementing hospitals and apply online, plus "smt for X" for general information disclosure by university hospitals and pharmaceutical companies under patient and public involvement (PPI) principles; "Study Concierge", a participant-facing app that sends dosing and visit reminders and has been used for ePRO surveys to reduce dropout risk; FeasiCon (Feasibility Concierge), a feasibility survey and site-selection system with an English-language interface for domestic and overseas studies; and "ミライク (MiiLike)", a patient social network where people with similar conditions share experiences.
The company frames its model as a "DRO" (Digital, Decentralized, Data Research Organization), aiming to shorten trial timelines and reduce costs through clinical trial operations infrastructure, a trial network built with partner sites anchored on trial-implementing hospitals, feasibility research supported by structured and unstructured electronic medical record data and real-world data, and a decentralized clinical trial (DCT) operations management platform spanning eRecruit, eConsent, online consultation, investigational drug delivery, wearable devices, specimen collection, home nursing, partner-site operations and cost management. Its stated mission is to deliver new treatment options to patients through technology, with a goal of shortening the roughly ten-year new drug development cycle to five years. Earlier company materials also describe BPO work for global pharmaceutical and healthcare companies and a patient PHR business.
Founding story
Founded in June 2017 (incorporated 2017-06-23) by Takateru Inokawa and Kiyoshi Aoyagi, with Inokawa as representative director and CEO. Inokawa is described as leading a vertical startup in the clinical trial DX field aimed at eliminating drug lag and loss in Japan, having studied design, interiors and architecture as a student.
Business model
Buzzreach sells subscription-based B2B SaaS to pharmaceutical companies, CROs, academic researchers and trial-implementing medical institutions, alongside subject-recruitment support services and patient-facing applications and a patient SNS that build the demand side of the network. Sector databases classify it under BtoB and BtoC subscription software, cloud services, platform, database, matching and healthcare information categories.
Revenue is generated from SaaS/subscription licensing of the StudyWorks Platform modules to pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions, and from subject recruitment support services; earlier descriptions also list BPO services for global pharma and healthcare companies.
Traction
Deployments and collaborations reported include Kanazawa University Hospital adopting StudyWorks for trial operations efficiency (2025), Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim beginning trial information disclosure via smt (2025), and a joint project with Nara Medical University Hospital on regional-collaboration-based case accumulation (2026). Headcount is reported at 40 (Wantedly) to 50 (Green), with stated capital of 329.6 million yen. Databases list a Series A stage with an estimated post-money valuation of 2,652 million yen as of February 2026.
Latest developments
In June 2026 Buzzreach announced a strategic partnership with Taimei Intelligence to expand attraction of Japan-China international multi-regional trials and build trial promotion infrastructure, following a January 2026 alliance with Xincere Med Tech covering Asian and global trial attraction to Japan and DCT/digital trial infrastructure. In August 2026 it began a joint project with Nara Medical University Hospital on regional-collaboration-based case accumulation for trial promotion, and it continues to exhibit and speak at Japanese clinical research and digital pathology conferences. It is recruiting for a CTO candidate with a stated aim of an IPO.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Positioned as a vertical SaaS startup in Japan's clinical trial DX segment, describing itself as working to eliminate drug lag and drug loss in Japan. It reports access to a database of approximately 2.5 million trial-interested individuals for recruitment support, and counts pharmaceutical and healthcare platform companies including M3 and Medley, plus corporate and bank-affiliated venture funds, among its shareholders.
The company emphasizes referral of trial candidates from surrounding medical institutions to trial-implementing hospitals, which it contrasts with self-declared online applications as producing higher-certainty recruitment; tools designed from CRC and CRA field requirements; and combining electronic medical record and real-world data with a platform to replace experience-based recruitment planning with data-driven site selection.
Technology
SaaS platform architecture covering trial project management, feasibility and site selection, information disclosure and matching, and participant-facing mobile apps with ePRO survey capability. The recruitment solution combines real-world data and structured/unstructured electronic medical record data for data-driven site targeting and real-time progress visualization. The DCT module covers eRecruit, eConsent, online consultation, investigational drug shipment, wearable devices, specimen collection and home nursing. The company holds ISO/IEC 27001 information security certification and added the ISO/IEC 27017 cloud security add-on certification in 2022.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales to pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, complemented by conference exhibitions and speaking slots at Japanese clinical research and pharmaceutical medicine meetings, and by capital and business alliances with healthcare platform companies and corporate investors. Partnerships with patient advocacy groups, insurers, cancer-focused media and apps extend recruitment reach, while cross-border alliances support inbound international trials to Japan.
Pharmaceutical companies, CROs, academic researchers, university hospitals and trial-implementing medical institutions and their CRC/CRA staff; on the consumer side, patients and their families seeking treatment options and trial participation.
Geography
Headquartered in Tokyo (3-19-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Kowa Shirokanedai Building; previously Shinagawa-ku). Operations center on Japan, with stated expansion abroad through partnerships aimed at attracting international multi-regional trials to Japan, including alliances with China-based Taimei Intelligence and Xincere Med Tech and with the Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance and CNS Summit; FeasiCon supports English for overseas feasibility work and the COO spoke at CHINATRIALS in Shanghai.
History
After its 2017 founding, the company raised approximately 50 million yen in a seed round in March 2019 and about 200 million yen in a pre-Series A round in February 2020 led by Mobile Internet Capital with existing investor KVP, at which point it operated the puzz trial information platform, the smt matching service and the Study Concierge patient app. In 2020 it formed business alliances with five cancer-focused organizations and a capital and business alliance with DeNA to co-develop the MiiLike patient service, and in 2021 began providing trial information to cancer patients with FWD Fuji Life. A 6.6 billion-yen-scale Series A of 660 million yen closed in July 2022, followed by a Series A extension in May 2023 raising 250 million yen via bonds with share options subscribed by Aozora Corporate Investment. Further undisclosed financings were reported in May 2024 (including investment from Sumisho Venture Partners) and November 2025, the latter alongside a capital and business alliance with Medley and M3. Partnerships with Deep Intelligent Pharma (2024), Xincere Med Tech (2026) and Taimei Intelligence (2026) extended AI and cross-border trial capabilities.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 19
launches, deals, and filingsLaunched a joint project with Nara Medical University Hospital to promote clinical trials through regional-collaboration-based case accumulation.
Partnership to expand attraction of Japan-China international multi-regional clinical trials to Japan and to build trial promotion infrastructure.
Alliance to strengthen attraction of trials to Japan from Asia and globally and to reinforce DCT/digital trial infrastructure.
Capital and business alliance with Medley and M3 to combine healthcare assets for case accumulation support and to strengthen a Japanese DCT ecosystem; financing reported from DG and Resona-affiliated investors with the amount undisclosed.
The pharmaceutical company started publishing clinical trial information using Buzzreach's smt platform.
The hospital introduced StudyWorks to improve clinical trial operational efficiency and information sharing.
Alliance with the Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance and CNS Summit to expand their communities into Japan.
Sumisho Venture Partners, the corporate venture capital arm of Sumitomo Corporation, invested in Buzzreach.
Start of a DCT collaboration reported in external news.
Partnership to apply generative AI to improving clinical trial efficiency.
Aozora Corporate Investment subscribed to straight bonds and share options issued by Buzzreach through the Aozora HYBRID No.2 fund.
Acquired the ISO/IEC 27017 cloud security add-on certification to its ISO/IEC 27001 information security management system certification.
Began offering a subject recruitment support bank with medical institutions for domestic pharmaceutical companies' COVID-19 vaccine development.
Started providing clinical trial information to cancer patients through IT network integration.
Joint development of the patient-facing service MiiLike.
Alliance enabling real-time online information provision through IT network integration.
Third-party allotment led by Mobile Internet Capital with existing VC KVP, to expand the puzz SaaS platform and accelerate the Study Concierge patient trial management app.
Began providing trial information in the oncology area through tie-ups with cancer patient support organizations, a life insurance company, cancer-focused web media and apps, and oncology trial hospitals; also announced smt for Doctor and a planned beta of the MiiLike patient SNS during 2020.
Buzzreach raised about 50 million yen in a seed round.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- 株式会社Buzzreachbuzzreach.co.jp · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does 株式会社Buzzreach do?
- Japanese health-tech company providing SaaS platforms that digitize clinical trial operations, patient recruitment and trial information disclosure.
- Who founded 株式会社Buzzreach?
- 株式会社Buzzreach was founded by Inokawa in 2017.
- Who are 株式会社Buzzreach's investors?
- 株式会社Buzzreach's investors include TOPPAN Holdings, ANOBAKA, Globis Capital Partners, Mobile Internet Capital, Inc., Aozora Corporate Investment.
- Where is 株式会社Buzzreach headquartered?
- 株式会社Buzzreach is headquartered in Tokyo, JP.