REDCLIFF closes first tranche of Series C led by Rakuten Capital
What's the deal? REDCLIFFDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Japan's largest drone-show operator, has closed the first tranche of its Series C round, led by Rakuten CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Pasona GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and HakuhodoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also joined the Tokyo-based startup's raise, which came through a third-party share allocation.
REDCLIFF will spend the money on expanding its drone fleet, moving overseas, hiring, and strengthening its governance and management.
Why now? The company is riding momentum from Expo 2025 Osaka, where it served as platinum partner for the "One World, One Planet." event and flew shows nightly for about six months.
It has repeatedly broken Japan's record for the most drones in a single show, hitting 3,030 at a Shibuya event in February 2026.
REDCLIFF holds the number-one share of Japan's drone-show market, according to Fuji Keizai's 2024 industry survey.
What could go wrong? The round is only at first close. REDCLIFF is still negotiating with corporate and financial backers for a second tranche, so the full raise depends on landing more partners.
The company is also betting drone shows can grow beyond entertainment into advertising and regional tourism — markets it has yet to prove at scale.
The signal: The investor mix is telling: alongside Rakuten Capital's investment fund, REDCLIFF has pulled in two corporate backers — staffing and regional-revitalisation group Pasona and advertising giant Hakuhodo — each with a strategic reason to keep the still early-stage company close. That corporate-heavy line-up points to a wider push to reframe drone shows as a serious commercial platform spanning advertising and regional tourism, rather than a one-off spectacle.
Read more: PR Times
Image credit: REDCLIFF
