Heartbeats raised $15 million to expand ORICAL, its official digital collecting platform for sports and entertainment fans in Japan. Vertex Ventures Japan participated in the financing.
Heartbeats operates ORICAL, a platform that allows fans to collect official digital trading cards featuring athletes, performers, and characters they support.
The platform currently spans categories including baseball, sumo, professional wrestling, and entertainment.
Heartbeats works directly with rights holders to create official collections and has partnerships with more than 20 content organizations.
Partners include the Chiba Lotte Marines, Hanshin Tigers, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Hello! Project, the Takarazuka Revue, the Japan Sumo Association, and Tsuburaya Productions, the creator of Ultraman.
Heartbeats was founded in 2017 under the name ventus and rebranded as Heartbeats in January 2026.
The Tokyo-based company now employs 177 people.
Heartbeats developed ORICAL around the idea that sports and entertainment fans want more personalized ways to express which teams, athletes, performers, and characters they support.
The platform includes features supporting both online and real-world fan engagement.
Vertex Ventures Japan sees Heartbeats as part of a broader opportunity to support Japanese startups built around the country’s strengths in entertainment content and deep technology.
Vertex Ventures Japan was established in 2024 and operates as part of the global Vertex network supported by Vertex Holdings.
Its inaugural ¥10 billion fund, approximately $64 million, has invested in eight companies to date.
The firm plans to support portfolio companies such as Heartbeats by helping them access overseas customers and international business relationships through the broader Vertex network.
“We will strive to understand our fans more deeply than anyone else.”
Yuta Umesawa, Representative Director and CEO of Heartbeats
“What’s missing is global access.”
Takashi Tomita, Managing Partner at Vertex Ventures Japan
