Whill is a Japanese startup that is currently developing a next-generation wheelchair. Earlier this week the startup unveiled that it has raised funds from Vegas Tech Fund, 500Startups, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and individual angel investors back on November 6th.
The total amount of funding raised in this round is $750,000, completing the company’s seed funding of $1.75 million in total. Vegas Tech Fund, also involved in this most recent funding, includes Zappos’ Tony Hsieh as a partner CEO. Coinciding with the announcement, Whill has renewed its company website and has began online pre-orders.
According to the CEO Satoshi Sugie, the company has already sold out the 50 available machines by pre-order, and there are over 100 users waiting to buy. They first plan to market the products in the US and are aiming to for a Japan release in late 2014.
Sugie said that he wants to use the funding raised this time not only for Whill’s development but also to add some human resources, such as persons who can perform maintenance on the machine. He thinks it is very important to attain a high level of customer satisfaction.
The company is also looking for business development persons and field engineers. Anyone keen to get involved should consider getting in touch. Sugie is currently exhibiting at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas.
Seeing more and more Japanese startups trying to break into overseas markets is very encouraging for the other startups in Japan. We will also keep an eye on Whill to see how they progress.
Japanese mobile marketing reserach company Livigen recently conducted a survey about video streaming and sharing services. The company used its own survey app Sumamoni (available on both Android and iOS) to collect responses from 500 participants [1]. When asked about which video sharing service they know of, almost all respondents – 96% to be precise – knew of YouTube. NicoNico Douga was the second most widely known at about 68%, with Twitcasting and Vine following at at 23% and 10% respectively. Twitcasting is a Japanese live-streaming app that we have covered in the past. Launched early in 2010, it now has almost four million users. Although Youtube was well known among the respondents as a whole, some services were found to be more popular in certain age groups. For example, Niconico Douga the service most known by people in their 20s, whereas Twitcasting and Vine were the most acknowledged among young teenage kids. Livigen’s survey also asked respondents to say what they found fun and interesting about these services. Some teens who prefer Twitcasting said things like: “People I became friends with on Twitter come to see me on Twitcasting” “It’s easier to use than Niconico Douga, and its a…
Vine is surprisingly popular with young people in Japan
Japanese mobile marketing reserach company Livigen recently conducted a survey about video streaming and sharing services. The company used its own survey app Sumamoni (available on both Android and iOS) to collect responses from 500 participants [1].
When asked about which video sharing service they know of, almost all respondents – 96% to be precise – knew of YouTube. NicoNico Douga was the second most widely known at about 68%, with Twitcasting and Vine following at at 23% and 10% respectively.
Twitcasting is a Japanese live-streaming app that we have covered in the past. Launched early in 2010, it now has almost four million users.
Although Youtube was well known among the respondents as a whole, some services were found to be more popular in certain age groups. For example, Niconico Douga the service most known by people in their 20s, whereas Twitcasting and Vine were the most acknowledged among young teenage kids.
Livigen’s survey also asked respondents to say what they found fun and interesting about these services. Some teens who prefer Twitcasting said things like:
“People I became friends with on Twitter come to see me on Twitcasting”
“It’s easier to use than Niconico Douga, and its a good way to kill time”
“All it takes is a mobile phone to broadcast.”
Meanwhile a teenage user on Vine said she loves that a six-second video can be easily made into a story, and another teenager responded that she enjoys to connect with people outside of Japan.
But as with most user-generated content services, most people access these products as viewers and do not actually post videos themselves. Out of all 500 respondents, only 0.8% had posted video on Vine, 4.6% on Twitcasting (pictured below), and even Youtube was relatively low at 18%.
Admittedly this is a small sample size, it’s a good indication that it might be a while longer before people in Japan to get used to casually sharing their videos.
Recently we spoke to the folks behind Tokyo-based survey solution Creative Survey, an online survey tool that emphasizes great design as its differentiator. That design-centric approach is similar to that of Barcelona-based Typeform, whose David Okuniev we spoke recently with about their progress to date and upcoming expansion plans. David tells me that their first Typeform first came into being four years ago as a sort of accident. He and a partner were running a design/development agency, and were asked to create a form that would sit in a gallery space, displayed on three iMac computers. Of course, in a setting like that, just any old design wouldn’t be enough. So they set out to build something that had an appropriately smart design. The initial version of TypeForm was created with the movie War Games in mind. 80s movie buffs will remember the back and forth Q&A-style conversation between the computer and Matthew Broderick’s character, as seen in the clip below: David explains that the simplicity of this interaction was inspiring: We thought, let’s forget everything we know about forms and do it the best we can. Along the way we realized it was more human and that we would…
Recently we spoke to the folks behind Tokyo-based survey solution Creative Survey, an online survey tool that emphasizes great design as its differentiator. That design-centric approach is similar to that of Barcelona-based Typeform, whose David Okuniev we spoke recently with about their progress to date and upcoming expansion plans.
David tells me that their first Typeform first came into being four years ago as a sort of accident. He and a partner were running a design/development agency, and were asked to create a form that would sit in a gallery space, displayed on three iMac computers. Of course, in a setting like that, just any old design wouldn’t be enough. So they set out to build something that had an appropriately smart design.
The initial version of TypeForm was created with the movie War Games in mind. 80s movie buffs will remember the back and forth Q&A-style conversation between the computer and Matthew Broderick’s character, as seen in the clip below:
David explains that the simplicity of this interaction was inspiring:
We thought, let’s forget everything we know about forms and do it the best we can. Along the way we realized it was more human and that we would increase conversions, and we can even put in images and video.
While early prototypes of the service was done in Flash, the company quickly moved to HTML5. After they raised funding, they continued to work to make work well on mobile, with responsive design and bigger buttons, presenting one question at a time. They launched their beta release last February, with a 1.0 release coming later this month. So far Typeform has over 40,000 users, with 8000 signed up in the month of December. They’re seeing good results so far, and are looking forward to making a push once their out of beta. Currently the team is comprised of 14 members, but they’re looking to make it 30 by the end of 2014.
Does Typeform have any plans for Japan? David tells me that they already have 1500 signups from here, even though the platform is not yet localized. Typeform does, however, allow you to select Japanese as the language for your form, with Japanese options available as form responses [1].
I understand that in addition to German, Japanese will likely be one of the first two fully localized languages for Typeform. The company is keen to speak with and get to know people here in Japan, and welcome anyone who might want to get involved in their efforts.
As far as monetizing their product, they have a number of tiered pricing offerings, including a free plan, and pro features available for those willing to pay a little more.
You can view some examples that Japanese users have created here and here. I’ll refrain from providing the actual links because I don’t want these users getting bombarded with unwanted responses. ↩
Tokyo-based internet company Allied Architects (TSE:6081) announced today that it has launched a social media marketing service using Facebook in Vietnam. For the company, this is its second international expansion following Taiwan back in 2012. In Vietnam, Facebook has surpassed the country’s local social network Zing Me in total users [1], and accounting for 22% of the country’s population as of last month [2]. The marketing platform is called Monipla, and it has been adopted by more than 500 companies in Japan and over 50 companies in Taiwan. As the first use case for the service in Vietnam, the company launched a Facebook promotion for the convenience store chain Ministop Vietnam, where users can get rewards by liking the chain’s fan page during the Vietnamese new year’s celebration. In this space, we’ve already seen more than a few players, including Kolor (by Interest Marketing), Crocos (acquired by Yahoo Japan back in 2012), Fantastics (by Gaiax), Smapo (acquired by Rakuten back in 2012), Shoprier (by Recruit), and Moratame (by Do House) in Japan. According to WeAreSocial. ↩ According to Cereja Technology. ↩
Tokyo-based internet company Allied Architects (TSE:6081) announced today that it has launched a social media marketing service using Facebook in Vietnam. For the company, this is its second international expansion following Taiwan back in 2012.
In Vietnam, Facebook has surpassed the country’s local social network Zing Me in total users [1], and accounting for 22% of the country’s population as of last month [2].
The marketing platform is called Monipla, and it has been adopted by more than 500 companies in Japan and over 50 companies in Taiwan. As the first use case for the service in Vietnam, the company launched a Facebook promotion for the convenience store chain Ministop Vietnam, where users can get rewards by liking the chain’s fan page during the Vietnamese new year’s celebration.
See the original story in Japanese. I visited Luxembourg back in June to attend the international startup showcase, ICT Spring 2013. The tiny country of Luxembourg is gradually becoming an emerging hub in the European startup community, and its government is trying to support this by organizing international conferences like ICT Spring. Unlike other startup communities where we can meet a variety of startups at different stages of development, Luxembourg seems to be more of a place for mature startups to grow further. 40% of Europe’s GDP lies within 500km of Luxembourg, making it a very convenient place to do business from. Many people working here actually reside in neighboring countries like Germany and France, and they commute to their offices in Luxembourg across the border every day. Why don’t startups use Luxembourg instead of London, Paris, or Berlin as a marketing hub for their European operations? During my visit at that time, I learned a lot about the country’s schemes and entities that supporting startups. And I’d like to review some of those here. P&T Luxembourg P&T Luxembourg is a 100% state-run company and administrates post and telecommunication business in the country. According to the company’s director Jean-Marie Spaus…
I visited Luxembourg back in June to attend the international startup showcase, ICT Spring 2013. The tiny country of Luxembourg is gradually becoming an emerging hub in the European startup community, and its government is trying to support this by organizing international conferences like ICT Spring.
Unlike other startup communities where we can meet a variety of startups at different stages of development, Luxembourg seems to be more of a place for mature startups to grow further.
40% of Europe’s GDP lies within 500km of Luxembourg, making it a very convenient place to do business from. Many people working here actually reside in neighboring countries like Germany and France, and they commute to their offices in Luxembourg across the border every day. Why don’t startups use Luxembourg instead of London, Paris, or Berlin as a marketing hub for their European operations?
During my visit at that time, I learned a lot about the country’s schemes and entities that supporting startups. And I’d like to review some of those here.
P&T Luxembourg
P&T Luxembourg is a 100% state-run company and administrates post and telecommunication business in the country. According to the company’s director Jean-Marie Spaus and international business development head Micaël Weber, the country has a great geographical advantage to host servers for European customers, since it’s located in the heart of the region and thus can reduce data latency. This has encouraged many gaming companies like Nexon and Kabam to set their European headquarters in the country.
Micaël Weber, International business development manager at P&T Luxembourg
The company is now working on deploying fiber-to-the-home to all households in the country according to the government’s strategy, with plans to roll out fiber-optic internet services up to 100Mbps by 2015, and 1Gbps by 2020.
Chamber of Commerce welcomes the world’s startups
Romain Fouarge, the senior advisor at Luxembourg Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade, talks about their startup invitation policy
Kirchberg is the country’s only business district. It’s close to Fidel Airport, and a big street runs through the district, home to the European Union’s office, governmental offices, and many business centers. The Japanese delegation I was part of visited the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, a very fashionable building in the area. But it seems a little small for the number of officials, and an adjacent annex building was under construction.
For a tiny country like Luxembourg, since every local governmental organization has privilege to work like a ministry, their chamber of commerce can play an important role in inviting companies from around the world. They say that if you set up a company in Luxembourg, you or your employees will not always need to live in the country to apply for tax incentives. Their government is very small, which means when you are registering a company or applying for a startup program, you can complete all required documentation in a shorter period.
English is usually spoken business occasions in the country, but it’s not the official language. So when you submit a request to the government, you will be required to complete a form in German, French, or Luxemburgisch. However the ‘Luxembourg for Business’ office (a business promotion agency) in your country can help you with translation to complete the form, so language barriers will not cause much trouble.
From the view of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce buildingConference room at Chamber of Commerce
Data4: More than just infrastructure
Data4 headquarters in Bettembourg
Data4 is a data center company based in the suburban city of Bettembourg, a 30-minute drive from the central area of Luxembourg city. They have data center facilities at four locations in Luxembourg, two in France, and one in the UK, Italy, and Switzerland. The company was previously known as SecureIT, but rebranded since its business now extends beyond just the security business.
In association with consulting firm Ernst & Young and the Luxembourg government, they formed an incubation initiative called Europe4Startups. It lets participating startups receive a number of perks, including complimentary cloud storage subscription. If you’d like to apply for it, you can do so here.
Data4 Chairman Gary Kneips explains about their company and incubation program
A potential hub for startups?
Gare Centrale du Luxembourg
It seems like entrepreneurs and their co-workers in Luxembourg aren’t so wrapped up in their jobs that they can’t afford to enjoy everyday life. They manage to sustain their startups, without having to sacrifice their happiness. I envy that the location of their workplace, hang-outs, and homes were conveniently located in a tiny area.
Let me give you an example. During the visit, I visited the office of Nexon Europe, which is just across the street from Luxembourg Central Station (Gare Centrale du Luxembourg). It’s a walkable distance to the city’s busiest dining and entertainment district, Place d’Armes. HotCity, the country’s public Wi-Fi service, is available on almost every street corner, so you don’t have any expensive international roaming services. From that district, you can reach forest areas in less than a ten-minute walk. And compared to other European cities, Luxembourg is pretty safe.
For many of our readers, Luxembourg is still less familiar than most other European countries when it comes to business. But the recent announcements that Japanese startups like Chatwork and Skeed have set up their European offices there indicates that things are changing. If you plan to expand your business in the region, Luxumbourg is certainly worth considering as an options.
For all the assistance I received in arranging appointments during the trip, I wish to thank the following people:
Yuriko Matsuno, Luxembourg for Business (Tokyo), Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade
Ryoko Nagakubo, Luxembourg for Business (Tokyo), Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade
Michel is an online text mining analysis service that collects information from blogs, online reviews and social media to find internet trends. Plus Alpha Consulting, the Japanese company behind the site, recently put together a report that shows the most popular TV commercials in Japan by analysing tweets from the past year. It’s always fun to watch award-winning TV commercials, as they often gives some insight into the type of humor and creativity that works well in certain cultures. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at few of the best television commercials from Japan in 2013. The most popular TV commercial from last year was by Nissin for its Cup Noodle product. The company has always been super creative and funny with its Cup Noodle commercials. But in the latest version, they make fun of happy people on Facebook who feel the need to share every single happy moment they experience with friends. The shark in the video represents these happy people, and the guy fighting the shark screams out, “I’ll only press ”Like” when I really like something!” SoftBank won the number two spot with it’s unique commercials. The company is recently running a commercial that…
Michel is an online text mining analysis service that collects information from blogs, online reviews and social media to find internet trends. Plus Alpha Consulting, the Japanese company behind the site, recently put together a report that shows the most popular TV commercials in Japan by analysing tweets from the past year.
It’s always fun to watch award-winning TV commercials, as they often gives some insight into the type of humor and creativity that works well in certain cultures. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at few of the best television commercials from Japan in 2013.
The most popular TV commercial from last year was by Nissin for its Cup Noodle product. The company has always been super creative and funny with its Cup Noodle commercials. But in the latest version, they make fun of happy people on Facebook who feel the need to share every single happy moment they experience with friends. The shark in the video represents these happy people, and the guy fighting the shark screams out, “I’ll only press ”Like” when I really like something!”
SoftBank won the number two spot with it’s unique commercials. The company is recently running a commercial that mimics the popular TV series Hanzawa Naoki, with it’s long running ‘Oto-san’ series (‘father’ in Japanese). A Japanese shibainu dog plays the part of the father in the SoftBank family. Interestingly, this father role was suppose to be played by a huge actor but at the last minute he couldn’t make it and they substituted in a dog. It’s funny how hits are made!
‘Loto 7’ nabbed the number three spot, with their commercial for a popular lottery here in Japan, where the prize is 400 million yen. In the commecial, two popular Japanese actors play the parts of a boss and his subordinate. The boss feigns disinterest in the lottery, asking “Can you buy your dreams with money?” But in the end it turns out that his employee catches him buying a ticket.
It’s interesting to note that all three major mobile phone carriers – Docomo, au, and Softbank – made top ten commercials list.
Michel also announced its list of well-received brands, with Softbank ranking number one, a construction company Daiwa House second, and Toyota third.
This year in 2014, Michel plans to release a monthly report of popular TV commercials based on this kind of Twitter analysis. They plans to provide an analytics service for TV commecials to advertising agencies and promoters as well.
Takeshi Hirano
Yukari Mitsuhashi
Rick Martin
Masaru Ikeda
