Tokyo-based Aroma Bit, a Japanese startup developing a small-sized aroma sensor device, recently announced that it has appointed Batara Eto as an advisor and Atsushi Tanaka as a mentor.
Eto is the former CTO of Japanese gaming company of Mixi (TSE:2121) as well as the co-founder and managing partner of East Ventures. We were also told that East Ventures has invested an undisclosed sum in Aroma Bit.
Tanaka is the former CFO of Japanese mobile company EMobile (acquired by Softbank in 2014) as well as the CEO of Tokyo-based JTOWER, a company focused on installing cellphone signal boosters in buildings to help mobile operators reduce the dead zones of their coverage.
Since its launch back in February 2014, Aomabit has been focused on developing a sensor visualizing the aroma and fragrance features. Quartz Crystal Modulator (QCM), their small-sized sensor, enables the visual expression of aromas, allowing users to ‘see’ scent differences between coffee, café latte, and honey latte, for example.
According to Aroma Bit CEO Shunichiro Kuroki, his company has been receiving many business inquiries from food, consumer electronics, automobile, and environmental businesses, where the quality check of their products typically relies on people’s nose but can be replaced with this sensing technology.
Translated by Taijiro Takeda Edited by Masaru Ikeda
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Moff, offering a wearable smart toy called Moff Band, has made a further progress in North America, followed by fundraising 1.6 million yen (about $1.3 million) from Japanese gaming giant Bandai Namco Entertainment (TSE:3832), mobile gaming developer Orso, investment company TomyK, and other angel investors in September. Moff recently announced the launch of its first intellectual training app called PBS KIDS Party, jointly developed with America’s major educational media brand PBS KIDS. Connecting with Moff Band, Moff’s flagship smart bracelet device, the new app allows users to play games such as freeze dance, Piñata burst or countdown to launch a rocket by swinging their arm. It’s an educational content developed as a compilation of PBS KIDS’ knowledge on creating learning content and Moff’s product offering gamification experience through the connected smart device. Upon launch of the new app, Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi made the following comment: While this partnership gives us a number of merits, the most significant part of it is that we could create the content considering the cultural background and characteristics of the US. Thanks to PBS KIDS taking on all tasks in the content creation, we were able to…
Tokyo-based Moff, offering a wearable smart toy called Moff Band, has made a further progress in North America, followed by fundraising 1.6 million yen (about $1.3 million) from Japanese gaming giant Bandai Namco Entertainment (TSE:3832), mobile gaming developer Orso, investment company TomyK, and other angel investors in September. Moff recently announced the launch of its first intellectual training app called PBS KIDS Party, jointly developed with America’s major educational media brand PBS KIDS.
Connecting with Moff Band, Moff’s flagship smart bracelet device, the new app allows users to play games such as freeze dance, Piñata burst or countdown to launch a rocket by swinging their arm. It’s an educational content developed as a compilation of PBS KIDS’ knowledge on creating learning content and Moff’s product offering gamification experience through the connected smart device.
Upon launch of the new app, Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi made the following comment:
While this partnership gives us a number of merits, the most significant part of it is that we could create the content considering the cultural background and characteristics of the US. Thanks to PBS KIDS taking on all tasks in the content creation, we were able to focus on engineering and technology development. Using the app, children can learn with their familiar characters under the highly-reputed mega brand, which gives them and their parents a sense of security.
In the joint app development process between Japan and the US, he said that his team had been struggling upon communication due to language barriers and time difference but they appointed a bilingual project manager to surmount these issues.
Takahagi then elaborated his plan and prospect for the future:
We will continue developing more intellectual training apps. Compared to passive desultory viewing of displayed content, inculcation utilizing gestures will better benefit kids. Since wearable devices are becoming more commonplace, we foresee a huge demand from content holders. Looking ahead, we want to explore more partnerships with various businesses.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based LifeRobotics, the Japanese startup behind a cooperative working robot called Coro, announced today that it has fundraised about 270 million yen (about $2.2 million) in a series A funding round. This round is led by Global Brain (GB) with participation from Nippon Technology Venture Partners (NTVP), and Lead Capital Management (LCM), anticipating additional funds from other investors to secure the final total of 400 million yen ($3.3 million). Coinciding with this funding, Takashi Kato, NTVP CEO Kazutaka Muraguchi and GB venture partner Hidetaka Aoki will join the board of directors while GB CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto will be appointed as an outside auditor. Kato is renowned as the co-founder of Japanese robotics company Schaft which was acquired by Google in 2013. See also: Japanese robotics entrepreneur forms $20M fund for bio and energy startups Google’s newly acquired robotics company wins DARPA Challenge Trials LifeRobotics was founded in December of 2007 by Dr. Woo-Keun Yoon who has been studying livelihood-support robot arms at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and other research institutions for over 15 years. His team have been developing cooperative working robots which allow users to let the…
Tokyo-based LifeRobotics, the Japanese startup behind a cooperative working robot called Coro, announced today that it has fundraised about 270 million yen (about $2.2 million) in a series A funding round. This round is led by Global Brain (GB) with participation from Nippon Technology Venture Partners (NTVP), and Lead Capital Management (LCM), anticipating additional funds from other investors to secure the final total of 400 million yen ($3.3 million).
Coinciding with this funding, Takashi Kato, NTVP CEO Kazutaka Muraguchi and GB venture partner Hidetaka Aoki will join the board of directors while GB CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto will be appointed as an outside auditor. Kato is renowned as the co-founder of Japanese robotics company Schaft which was acquired by Google in 2013.
LifeRobotics was founded in December of 2007 by Dr. Woo-Keun Yoon who has been studying livelihood-support robot arms at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and other research institutions for over 15 years. His team have been developing cooperative working robots which allow users to let the robot learn motions using a 3D mouse or a game pad without complicated programming skills.
Along with the funding announcement, the company just unveiled a co-robot for picking work called Coro, which will be showcased at International Robot Exhibition 2015 taking place in Tokyo from December 2nd to 5th. Its sales will start in January 2016. Coro uses the company’s patent-pending Transpander technology, allowing placement of the co-robot in small manufacturing spaces where conventional-type robots are difficult to locate. In this way, this brand new robot will help people improve their productivity as well as automate processes in manufacturing.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based startup Okan provides an on-demand delivery service for Japanese deli foods for corporate customers. The company announced on Wednesday that it has fundraised an undisclosed amount from YJ Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital, and CA Mobile. YJ Capital is the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TSE:4689) while CA Mobile is a mobile-focused subsidiary of Japanese internet company CyberAgent (TSE:4751). This follows their previous funding of an undisclosed sum from CyberAgent Ventures and food delivery company Oisix (TSE:3182) in June of 2014. With the service Office Okan, corporate customers will receive Japanese deli once a month, since the deli lasts about a month. These can be refrigerated, and users can buy it by dropping coins to the collection box on the fridge and prepare it in about minutes. Having been attracting many local businesses since its launch back one and a half years ago, the service is now adopted at many offices without massive promotion efforts. In addition to people’s raising awareness of health, the company claims that this was supported by the recent transition about how companies provide welfare for their employees; the shift from providing recreation facilities and other asset-based services…
Tokyo-based startup Okan provides an on-demand delivery service for Japanese deli foods for corporate customers. The company announced on Wednesday that it has fundraised an undisclosed amount from YJ Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital, and CA Mobile. YJ Capital is the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TSE:4689) while CA Mobile is a mobile-focused subsidiary of Japanese internet company CyberAgent (TSE:4751). This follows their previous funding of an undisclosed sum from CyberAgent Ventures and food delivery company Oisix (TSE:3182) in June of 2014.
With the service Office Okan, corporate customers will receive Japanese deli once a month, since the deli lasts about a month. These can be refrigerated, and users can buy it by dropping coins to the collection box on the fridge and prepare it in about minutes. Having been attracting many local businesses since its launch back one and a half years ago, the service is now adopted at many offices without massive promotion efforts.
In addition to people’s raising awareness of health, the company claims that this was supported by the recent transition about how companies provide welfare for their employees; the shift from providing recreation facilities and other asset-based services to providing the service that employees can use on a daily basis.
Okan CEO Keita Sawaki says,
Not only specific sectors like IT venture companies but also many companies from various industries, including listed companies, are using our service. We believe that our service can be a ‘defacto standard’ to companies to improve their work environment and support employees’ lives.
In addition to Office Okan, we will develop more solutions to support companies and their people in various ways. We want to keep making efforts to lead the industry providing B2E (business to employees) solutions.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Kabuku, the startup known for its 3D printing service brand Rinkak, announced today that it has fundraised 750 million yen ($6 million) from Japanese VC firm Global Brain, Dentsu Digital Holdings (DDH), and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital. Since having secured 400 million yen ($3.3 million) in August from Global Brain, Kabuku has been exploring additional funding opportunities from other sources together with the VC firm, the lead investor in this round. Kabuku has closed the latest round by securing 350 million yen ($2.8 million) funding from DDH and Mitsui Sumitomo Capital. Kabuku fundraised 20 million yen from angel investors in June of the same year, followed by securing 200 million yen ($1.7 million) funding from CyberAgent Ventures (CAV) and Fuji Startup Ventures (FSV) in June 2014. With the latest funding, Kabuku has fundraised 600 million yen ($4.8 million) 950 million yen ($7.8 million) to date. [1] In September 2014, Kabuku partnered with Dentsu, an ad agency company under DDH, to develop a solution in the digital fabrication space, aiming to support hardware inventing activities between startups and corporates. In July, Global Brain, one of the investors in the latest round, invested in…
Since having secured 400 million yen ($3.3 million) in August from Global Brain, Kabuku has been exploring additional funding opportunities from other sources together with the VC firm, the lead investor in this round. Kabuku has closed the latest round by securing 350 million yen ($2.8 million) funding from DDH and Mitsui Sumitomo Capital.
Kabuku fundraised 20 million yen from angel investors in June of the same year, followed by securing 200 million yen ($1.7 million) funding from CyberAgent Ventures (CAV) and Fuji Startup Ventures (FSV) in June 2014. With the latest funding, Kabuku has fundraised 600 million yen ($4.8 million) 950 million yen ($7.8 million) to date. [1]
In September 2014, Kabuku partnered with Dentsu, an ad agency company under DDH, to develop a solution in the digital fabrication space, aiming to support hardware inventing activities between startups and corporates. In July, Global Brain, one of the investors in the latest round, invested in HWTrek, Taiwan-based online community platform for hardware developers, so expect a business synergy with Kabuku through supporting forming the ecosystem of digital fabrication startups.
Kabuku was established in January 2013. Originally launched as a showcase and marketplace of 3D printing products, Kabuku has diversified its business to providing other solutions such as Rinkak 3D Printing PPP (Printing Partner Program) that connects orders to relevant printing factories based on manufacturing needs, and Rinkak 3D Printing MMS (Manufacturing Management Service) that provides a cloud-based production management system for 3D printing factories. The company will use the funds to strengthen development and global marketing of these new services.
Edited by Kurt Hanson
Updated based on feedback from CyberAgent Ventures. ↩
See the original story in Japanese. Monomy is an iOS app that offers an online marketplace for creatives, allowing people to make accessories they like with ease using smartphones. The platform was recently launched by Fun Up, the Tokyo-based company which has been running several online services since 2011. We interviewed Eri Yamaguchi, the company representative, about their upcoming app. Users can design accessories with over 1,500 parts The Monomy app enables users to design their own accessories by putting accessory parts together in your own style. Over 1,500 kinds of parts including rhinestones, natural gemstones and charms are provided in the app. More design-active users put up their accessory designs for showcasing on “Monomy MyPages” for other users. When one finds a design one likes, it can just be purchased by inputting credit card and address details. The difference between trendy marketplaces for handmade goods and Monomy is that users only need to design the accessories they want. What happens is that Monomy takes care of the whole process from receiving orders through production in their own workshop. They can take large orders such as orders for 1,000 items and make them all in their workshop, with the accessories…
Monomy is an iOS app that offers an online marketplace for creatives, allowing people to make accessories they like with ease using smartphones. The platform was recently launched by Fun Up, the Tokyo-based company which has been running several online services since 2011.
We interviewed Eri Yamaguchi, the company representative, about their upcoming app.
Users can design accessories with over 1,500 parts
The Monomy app enables users to design their own accessories by putting accessory parts together in your own style. Over 1,500 kinds of parts including rhinestones, natural gemstones and charms are provided in the app. More design-active users put up their accessory designs for showcasing on “Monomy MyPages” for other users. When one finds a design one likes, it can just be purchased by inputting credit card and address details.
The difference between trendy marketplaces for handmade goods and Monomy is that users only need to design the accessories they want. What happens is that Monomy takes care of the whole process from receiving orders through production in their own workshop. They can take large orders such as orders for 1,000 items and make them all in their workshop, with the accessories being made by experienced craftspeople by hand.
Yamaguchi explained:
The market for handmade items has been growing a lot recently with some items surpassing 1,000 orders a month. However, they are all handmade items so individual craftspeople make the accessories, meaning that even if they worked without any sleep, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with production; it’s not unusual to see items sold out or with a waiting time of several months.
Using the Monomy app, it takes about a week on average for a product to arrive after placing the order. The whole process is taken over by Monomy’s operation department so users can just enjoy designing and gaining their own accessory brands. The app offers a system where the item one wants to give someone can be delivered when one wishes.
The impression Monomy gives is one of femininity and cuteness, but its user interface is very simple. The main focus is on the user’s own accessory brands. The company aims to offer an app design and user interface that is reasonably simple so that their platform doesn’t distract users from the true function of the site.
Also, the key factor when representing real items and actions online is how to replicate the actual feel on a flat smartphone display. A good example is an electronic book reader which emulates reality by turning pages on books and magazines using fingertips. It is indeed a challenge.
Touching the app, you can see how well it has been made by gaining a feel of ‘making accessories by hand’: through use of a gaming engine with technology that can calculates truelife physics and replicates gravity, parts can be moved delicately using fingertips while naturally wobbling a little when parts are added. A lot of time has been spent to make this app, so the feel of making something seems real.
Yamaguchi added:
I think that the most important thing is for users to experience joy by making items and enjoy being part of the community before selling. There are some users that just silently design on the app when they can’t really get to sleep. We are aiming for a service where users get into designing so much that they can’t keep their hands from designing.
Building a platform for creating things
When Yamaguchi was studying at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo and experienced purchasing and sales, product development and commerce business, she thought about challenging the apparel field one day by creating something new. She traveled around the world and visited parts of Asia including Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong for two years to conduct market surveys, enabling her to come up with the inspiration for making the Monomy app.
Yamaguchi elaborated:
It is not easy to find accessories that one likes in accessory shops and online in Japan. For example, without pierced ears even if what one finds and likes earrings if they are only for pierced ears, you couldn’t buy anything. Similarly if one is allergic to metals there is no alternative. There still isn’t a market that specializes in accessories, so it would be great if we could solve such problems through Monomy.
17 parts distributors are associated with Monomy; it has created its own system for receiving orders and delivering products without the risk of carrying stocks of accessory parts. By applying this system, it can lessen the burden on the user by making it cost almost nothing. Yamaguchi’s concept is to laterally expand the model by associating with production plants in Japan in a variety of areas, including made-in-Japan furniture, bags, glasses, nail polish and ceramics. Accessories are just the beginning.
Yamaguchi continued:
There are so many areas that cost too much from planning through to product sales at the shop. I could have made the name prettier-sounding than Monomy, but I gave it a name that is unisex, Monomy, to make it mean “starting a revolution” on ordinary production in the future. I hope to build a new ‘platform for making things’ which is closely intertwined with production plants and general consumers.
Community building first, group buying in the future
Monomy is going to add more functions like following users or items. Another function is trying-on items to let users find what they want. For promotions, the plan is to utilize Fun Up’s existing business, influencer marketing, while mulling brand development through reader models and bloggers. Also, the plan aims to enhance the community by holding a contest for posting accessories that suit the new releases of popular brands.
After establishing the community, introduction of a group-buying and incentive system is on the drawing board. Currently the scale has difficulty handling orders that take time and effort. Group-buying could allow a certain number of people who want the same products during a period to decrease the cost per item as they’d be made in bulk, allowing items to be offered at reasonable prices.
Accessories where the cost price is cheap can be halved in price if the number of items being produced increases to 20. If the number of buyers increases, then the price could decrease by 30% to 80%. We are considering something where any user who post their designs could be given incentives in the future.’ Upon launch monomy is just an MVP (Minimal Viable Product).
Yamaguchi says.
The focus is on user experience first, so ‘users can enjoy designing accessories and Monomy can receive recognition’; the next move will be deliberated upon a look at user reactions and feedback, she added.
If you make the design and deliver it, then that limits how much they can produce and how many people would want to do it. But Monomy’s ‘design only’ business model can allow more things to be made. We look forward to the feedback from people and how many ladies will go for Monomy.
Translated by Chieko Frost via Mother First Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy and Masaru Ikeda