Masaru started his career as a programmer/engineer, and previously co-founded several system integration companies and consulting firms. He’s been traveling around Silicon Valley and Asia exploring the IT industry, and he also curates event updates for the Tokyo edition of Startup Digest.
See the original story in Japanese. HalalMinds is a mobile app that can scan bar codes to see if a food is halal compliant, or permissible for Muslims to eat. When we featured it in April, they only had an Android version but have subsequently released an iOS version. They recently released version 2.0, which allows halal scanning of the bar code of drugs, cosmetics, and food products. In addition, the new version allows for scanning of E numbers —codes for food additives used in European countries. Meanwhile, the HalalMinds team won a pre-startup award at Global TIC 2014, Taiwan’s largest business plan competition event which took place in Taipei on August 17–22. HalalMinds is the first award-winning team from Japan at this event. Leveraging this exposure, the team aims to accelerate Asian expansion, including enhancing the app so users can find halal restaurants and halal foods in China, South Korea, and Taiwan. The app was developed by Indonesian student Agung Pambudi, a member of Kyushu Lab who has lived in Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Finland. KyushuLab is a software development community based on the southernmost of the four main islands in the Japanese archipelago.
HalalMinds is a mobile app that can scan bar codes to see if a food is halal compliant, or permissible for Muslims to eat. When we featured it in April, they only had an Android version but have subsequently released an iOS version. They recently released version 2.0, which allows halal scanning of the bar code of drugs, cosmetics, and food products. In addition, the new version allows for scanning of E numbers —codes for food additives used in European countries.
Meanwhile, the HalalMinds team won a pre-startup award at Global TIC 2014, Taiwan’s largest business plan competition event which took place in Taipei on August 17–22. HalalMinds is the first award-winning team from Japan at this event. Leveraging this exposure, the team aims to accelerate Asian expansion, including enhancing the app so users can find halal restaurants and halal foods in China, South Korea, and Taiwan.
The app was developed by Indonesian student Agung Pambudi, a member of Kyushu Lab who has lived in Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Finland. KyushuLab is a software development community based on the southernmost of the four main islands in the Japanese archipelago.
Tokyo-based MakeLeaps, the startup behind a cloud-based invoicing platform under the same name, announced today that it has raised $600,000 through AngelList. Participating investors in this round include Naval Ravikant (AngelList), Richard Chen (Hatena) and Dave McClure (500 Startups). Since its launch in October 2011 by Australian serial entrepreneur Jason Winder, MakeLeaps provides an invoicing platform that targets freelancers as well as small/medium-sized enterprises, having acquired over 15,000 users. According to the company, the service saw a 20% user revenue growth rate in three months from April to June. MakeLeaps plans to use the funding to enhance the service and integrate it with other enterprise resource planning or B2B payment services so that more big companies will be able to put the platform into their in-house invoicing operations. In addition, MakeLeaps said it will increase sales representatives in order to boost marketing of the service to enterprise users.
Tokyo-based MakeLeaps, the startup behind a cloud-based invoicing platform under the same name, announced today that it has raised $600,000 through AngelList. Participating investors in this round include Naval Ravikant (AngelList), Richard Chen (Hatena) and Dave McClure (500 Startups).
Since its launch in October 2011 by Australian serial entrepreneur Jason Winder, MakeLeaps provides an invoicing platform that targets freelancers as well as small/medium-sized enterprises, having acquired over 15,000 users. According to the company, the service saw a 20% user revenue growth rate in three months from April to June.
MakeLeaps plans to use the funding to enhance the service and integrate it with other enterprise resource planning or B2B payment services so that more big companies will be able to put the platform into their in-house invoicing operations. In addition, MakeLeaps said it will increase sales representatives in order to boost marketing of the service to enterprise users.
Tokyo-based Zuu, the startup that operates financial advisor matching platform Zuu Advisors, announced today that it has fundraised 105 million yen (about $1 million) from four angel investors including Japan’s mobile i-mode web service inventor Takeshi Natsuno and listed-company owners. The company provides a dozen web services including Zoo Advisors Support, a website of marketing tips for brokers and salespersons of wealth management products. Other websites include Japanese property market trend news site Tokyo Premium Real Estate and wealth management-focused portal Zuu Online (US Edition), both are available in English. The company will use the funds to strengthen their engineering and marketing teams to roll out improvements of their web services. Zuu was founded in 2013 by Kazumasa Tomita, who previously worked in the wealth management department of Nomura Securities.
Tokyo-based Zuu, the startup that operates financial advisor matching platform Zuu Advisors, announced today that it has fundraised 105 million yen (about $1 million) from four angel investors including Japan’s mobile i-mode web service inventor Takeshi Natsuno and listed-company owners.
The company provides a dozen web services including Zoo Advisors Support, a website of marketing tips for brokers and salespersons of wealth management products. Other websites include Japanese property market trend news site Tokyo Premium Real Estate and wealth management-focused portal Zuu Online (US Edition), both are available in English.
The company will use the funds to strengthen their engineering and marketing teams to roll out improvements of their web services.
Zuu was founded in 2013 by Kazumasa Tomita, who previously worked in the wealth management department of Nomura Securities.
See the original story in Japanese. Japanese UX design firm Goodpatch fundraised 100 million yen (or about $1 million) from DG Incubation, the investment arm of Digital Garage (TSE:4819) in December 2013. Back then the firm was in Akihabara, but two months ago they moved to Shibuya, a major startup hub in Tokyo. Upon visiting the new Goodpatch office, this reporter met a familiar person in addition to the CEO, Naofumi Tsuchiya. It was Boris Friedrich Milkowski, a German who had studied at Keio Media Design (KMD). When he was attending the university, I had been requested by him to join a group focus interview where I offered him my insights about the UI/UX trends for Japanese apps as well as about local startups in Tokyo. He subsequently joined the Goodpatch team for business development to help accelerate the company’s global market expansion. Goodpatch launched rapid prototyping tool Prott as a “closed beta” in March, and their team is finalizing the release of its official version and its iOS app, scheduled to go live soon. CEO Naofumi Tsuchiya aims to disrupt the industry with the Prott app: Prototyping is not so common in Japan, but overseas, many developers typically prototype…
Japanese UX design firm Goodpatch fundraised 100 million yen (or about $1 million) from DG Incubation, the investment arm of Digital Garage (TSE:4819) in December 2013. Back then the firm was in Akihabara, but two months ago they moved to Shibuya, a major startup hub in Tokyo.
Upon visiting the new Goodpatch office, this reporter met a familiar person in addition to the CEO, Naofumi Tsuchiya. It was Boris Friedrich Milkowski, a German who had studied at Keio Media Design (KMD). When he was attending the university, I had been requested by him to join a group focus interview where I offered him my insights about the UI/UX trends for Japanese apps as well as about local startups in Tokyo. He subsequently joined the Goodpatch team for business development to help accelerate the company’s global market expansion.
Goodpatch launched rapid prototyping tool Prott as a “closed beta” in March, and their team is finalizing the release of its official version and its iOS app, scheduled to go live soon. CEO Naofumi Tsuchiya aims to disrupt the industry with the Prott app:
Prototyping is not so common in Japan, but overseas, many developers typically prototype prior to app development commencement. We want to educate the Japanese app development industry about the need for prototyping in association with other companies in this sector.
A prototyping tool allows planners or designers to create a mock-up instantly even if they are less familiar with coding.
Existing design tools have many functions but less usability for mobile app designs. By adding various functions such as “drawing function” to Prott, we can bite into user bases held by other software, such as Adobe Photoshop.
The drawing function he mentioned will be supported in the future version of the Prott app. In addition, they are considering supporting other features like those enabling export of a prototype that has been created outside the prototyping tool.
Because the Protto app has been developed in Japan, it obviously supports the Japanese language. But 70% of users are overseas. We are keen to see how their global release and expansion efforts go.
Goodpatch aims to create a comfortable working environment similar to that of startups in Silicon Valley. The company spent a lot on relocation and interior design, but Tsuchiya says the investment will be worthwhile if it can attract talented people.
An unconfirmed report has it that the Tokyo event of Finland’s annual startup conference Slush will take place at the Goodpatch office on October 3rd. The 2013 event took place at Open Network Lab. By helping organize such events, Goodpatch can contribute to the local startup community in Tokyo and bring in a lot of international perspectives and entrepreneurial spirit.
Goodpatch consists of a 32-person team, of which seven are developing the Prott app. Another prototyping tool Pop, which came from Silicon Valley and Taiwan, recently announced their full-fledged entry into the Japanese market, which indicates this space is heating up. To expand Prott and other UI/UX-focused projects, Goodpatch is hiring, so those interested in working there are advised to immediately contact the firm.
At the entrance.Many flowers from startup folks celebrating Goodpatch’s new office.Rilakkuma is always seated on the best position.A standing desk is good for people like me who have a sore back.A comfortable meeting room overflowing an opening feeling.We see pingpong tables at many startup offices these days.If you visit this corner, you may feel like as if you’ve visited a stylish bar.
Tokyo-based internet marketing company Research and Innovation annouced today that it has fundraised $220 million (about $2.2 million) from Mizuho Capital, Jafco, and DBJ Capital. This follows their previous funds from Mizuho Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, and KLab Ventures. Research and Innovation has been providing two marketing services, called MyComment and Code. MyComment is a mystery shopper platform for retailers, where you can ask users to report if your customers are satisfied with a shopping experience at your online or offline store. Code is a mobile app-based service for consumer goods producers, which allows you to ask consumers to give you feedback about your products after purchase. The company plans to use the funds upon strengthening marketing and hiring efforts for further business expansion. via PR Times
Research and Innovation has been providing two marketing services, called MyComment and Code. MyComment is a mystery shopper platform for retailers, where you can ask users to report if your customers are satisfied with a shopping experience at your online or offline store. Code is a mobile app-based service for consumer goods producers, which allows you to ask consumers to give you feedback about your products after purchase.
The company plans to use the funds upon strengthening marketing and hiring efforts for further business expansion.
Japan’s leading telco KDDI announced today that it has acquired a 90% stake in Natasha, the Tokyo-based company behind popular J-pop culture and entertainment news site Natalie. Since its launch back in 2007, Natalie has acquired about 31 million monthly page views and 6.6 million unique users. They used to have an English version with a plan to expand their reader base to the global market, but it seems like they have shifted to be focused on the Japanese market so the English version has been shut down. via MyNavi
Japan’s leading telco KDDI announced today that it has acquired a 90% stake in Natasha, the Tokyo-based company behind popular J-pop culture and entertainment news site Natalie.
Since its launch back in 2007, Natalie has acquired about 31 million monthly page views and 6.6 million unique users. They used to have an English version with a plan to expand their reader base to the global market, but it seems like they have shifted to be focused on the Japanese market so the English version has been shut down.
Japanese gaming giant GungHo Online Entertainment announced today that it will establish a local subsidiary in Singapore, specifically focused on developing new gaming titles for emerging markets. The company also unveiled it’s plans to strengthen partnerships with local game developers in the Southeast Asian markets, including investments worth 30 billion yen (about $289 million) in the latter. In a press release, GungHo says that this initiative will be conducted in association with Softbank Group (TSE:9984), one of Japan’s leading firms as well as having many investments in Chinese and other Asian companies. GungHo’s chairman Taizo Son is a younger brother of Japanese business tycoon Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank. See also: Japan’s Softbank Mobile to acquire majority shares of game developer Gungho Online Entertainment
Japanese gaming giant GungHo Online Entertainment announced today that it will establish a local subsidiary in Singapore, specifically focused on developing new gaming titles for emerging markets. The company also unveiled it’s plans to strengthen partnerships with local game developers in the Southeast Asian markets, including investments worth 30 billion yen (about $289 million) in the latter.
In a press release, GungHo says that this initiative will be conducted in association with Softbank Group (TSE:9984), one of Japan’s leading firms as well as having many investments in Chinese and other Asian companies. GungHo’s chairman Taizo Son is a younger brother of Japanese business tycoon Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank.
Tokyo-based ResuPress, known for its social networking platform Storys.jp, announced today it has launched a bitcoin exchange called Coincheck. Users can buy, sell, or send bitcoins after depositing money into a bank account designated by the company. ResuPress charges a commission of 1% on bitcoins bought, withdrawn, or remitted through the platform. To prevent fraud or money laundering, users must submit identification to withdraw more than 10,000 yen ($100) per a day. Coincheck offers three advantages: Sign-up can be completed in as little as one hour Available 24 hours a day Easy-to-use interface ResuPress will launch a bitcoin payment gateway for e-commerce site integrators in September. Japan has bitcoin exchanges, wallets, ATMs, and remittance services such as Zaif, Bitflyer, and Bitcheck. Via TechCrunch Japan
Tokyo-based ResuPress, known for its social networking platform Storys.jp, announced today it has launched a bitcoin exchange called Coincheck.
Users can buy, sell, or send bitcoins after depositing money into a bank account designated by the company. ResuPress charges a commission of 1% on bitcoins bought, withdrawn, or remitted through the platform. To prevent fraud or money laundering, users must submit identification to withdraw more than 10,000 yen ($100) per a day.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Ptmind, the startup that operates heatmap access analytics solution Pt engine (previously known as Ptmind, and especially known as Miapex outside Japan), announced today that it has launched an Android native app version in closed beta. Conventional versions of the solution support heatmap analytics for web apps on mobile but not the ones for native apps. Comprised of tracking and reporting SDKs (software developer kits), the Android native app version analyzes user behavior on news curation apps, for instance, which typically have dynamic scrollviews or screen changes. So Ptmind expects a wider range of app developers to use the solution to analyze user behavior. The solution has such functions as: Analytics reporting available without a desktop Heatmap analytics available in real-time access or for past access in the last 30 days Reporting available on mobile anytime, anywhere Even on apps using dynamic scrollviews or screen changes, animated analytics heatmap can be overlapped on a real-time app screen showing accordingly. (see video below, 08sec to 15sec) Since its global launch in October 2013, Pt engine has been adopted by over 4,500 mobile websites in Japan alone. Developers interested in the new version can apply…
Tokyo-based Ptmind, the startup that operates heatmap access analytics solution Pt engine (previously known as Ptmind, and especially known as Miapex outside Japan), announced today that it has launched an Android native app version in closed beta.
Conventional versions of the solution support heatmap analytics for web apps on mobile but not the ones for native apps. Comprised of tracking and reporting SDKs (software developer kits), the Android native app version analyzes user behavior on news curation apps, for instance, which typically have dynamic scrollviews or screen changes. So Ptmind expects a wider range of app developers to use the solution to analyze user behavior.
The solution has such functions as:
Analytics reporting available without a desktop
Heatmap analytics available in real-time access or for past access in the last 30 days
Reporting available on mobile anytime, anywhere
Even on apps using dynamic scrollviews or screen changes, animated analytics heatmap can be overlapped on a real-time app screen showing accordingly. (see video below, 08sec to 15sec)
Since its global launch in October 2013, Pt engine has been adopted by over 4,500 mobile websites in Japan alone. Developers interested in the new version can apply for a test integration on the company’s website. The company says an iOS native app version will follow.
Tokyo-based Quan, the Japanese startup behind mobile apps like MyStickerShop and Lounge, announced today that it has invested in Bangkok-based game startup Magic Box Asia. Magic Box Asia was founded by Vincent Setiwan, co-founder of Bangkok’s co-working space Launchpad and the co-founder of Japanese anime creation crowdfunding site Anipipo. The company provides a smartphone game platform and app localization service for the Southeast Asian region with an emphasis on the Thai market. Since its launch in 2011, Quan has launched smartphone app MyStickerShop in partnership with Thailand’s leading telco AIS, as well as developed the Japanese versions of popular mobile games from Thai developers such as Kiragames, PocketPlayLab, and PromptNow. The company fundraised an undisclosed sum from Japanese e-commerce giant Netprice.com and investment company East Ventures in 2012. See also: How a small Japanese startup is helping Thailand’s biggest telco win new 3G subscribers WeChat turns to Japanese startup Quan for mobile sticker content Inside Bangkok’s growing startup scene
Tokyo-based Quan, the Japanese startup behind mobile apps like MyStickerShop and Lounge, announced today that it has invested in Bangkok-based game startup Magic Box Asia.
Magic Box Asia was founded by Vincent Setiwan, co-founder of Bangkok’s co-working space Launchpad and the co-founder of Japanese anime creation crowdfunding site Anipipo. The company provides a smartphone game platform and app localization service for the Southeast Asian region with an emphasis on the Thai market.
Since its launch in 2011, Quan has launched smartphone app MyStickerShop in partnership with Thailand’s leading telco AIS, as well as developed the Japanese versions of popular mobile games from Thai developers such as Kiragames, PocketPlayLab, and PromptNow. The company fundraised an undisclosed sum from Japanese e-commerce giant Netprice.com and investment company East Ventures in 2012.
