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Japanese robotics startup Mujin secures $83M in series C for Europe expansion

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Tokyo-based Mujin, the Japanese startup developing intelligent robotics solutions for industrial use, announced on Tuesday that it has secured 12.3 billion yen (over $83 million US) in a Series C round. Participating investors include SBI Investment, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Accenture, Dr. James Kuffner (robotics researcher, CEO of Toyota’s Wovn Planet Holdings), and 7-Industries Holdings. This follows the company’s Series B round back in August of 2014. The latest round brought their funding sum up to date to 20.5 billion yen (about $139 million). Mujin was founded in 2011 by robotics scientist Rosen Diankov and grew out of the University of Tokyo. His team developed OpenRAVE, motion planning software for real robot applications, as well as Mujin Controller, software enabling simulate different robot motion patterns and optimize performance before full-scale operation. In 2012, the company secured 75 million yen (about $960,000 US in the exchange rate at the time) from the University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC) and other investors in a Series A round. See also: 9 Japanese robotics startups to watch in 2014 In robotics operations, automation of complex processes has conventionally been considered difficult. However, Mujin Controller has given intelligence to robots, enabling them to adapt to changes…

Image credit: Mujin

Tokyo-based Mujin, the Japanese startup developing intelligent robotics solutions for industrial use, announced on Tuesday that it has secured 12.3 billion yen (over $83 million US) in a Series C round. Participating investors include SBI Investment, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Accenture, Dr. James Kuffner (robotics researcher, CEO of Toyota’s Wovn Planet Holdings), and 7-Industries Holdings. This follows the company’s Series B round back in August of 2014. The latest round brought their funding sum up to date to 20.5 billion yen (about $139 million).

Mujin was founded in 2011 by robotics scientist Rosen Diankov and grew out of the University of Tokyo. His team developed OpenRAVE, motion planning software for real robot applications, as well as Mujin Controller, software enabling simulate different robot motion patterns and optimize performance before full-scale operation. In 2012, the company secured 75 million yen (about $960,000 US in the exchange rate at the time) from the University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC) and other investors in a Series A round.

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In robotics operations, automation of complex processes has conventionally been considered difficult. However, Mujin Controller has given intelligence to robots, enabling them to adapt to changes in the environment. In addition to industrial robots, Mujin also provides large-scale automation solutions by linking robots with robot hands, AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles), conveyors, and other devices.

The company will use the funds to invest in technology for intelligent robot controllers and 3D vision systems to achieve greater sophistication and multifunctionality. They also plan to launch new products such as mobile robots and devanning robots, provide total automation solutions, promote business expansion into the European market in addition to the US market where they already have presence.

via PR Times

Japan’s Caster, introducing remote workers to companies, files for IPO

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Japanese startup Caster, the company offering online-based office assistant services for companies, announced on Wednesday that its initial listing application on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on October 4 with plans to offer 350,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 52,500 shares in over-allotment options. The underwriting will be led by Daiwa Securities while Caster’s ticker code will be 9331. Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 650 yen (about $4.5) per share, its market cap is approximately 1.24 billion yen (about $8.5 million). Its share price range will be released on September 14 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on September 19 and pricing on September 25. The final public offering price will be determined on September 26. According to its consolidated statement as of August of 2022, the company posted revenue of 3.34 billion yen ($23 million) with an ordinary loss of 161.8 million yen ($1.1 million). Founded in September of 2014, the company offers Caster Biz and other services helping enterprises connect with freelance or contract-based remote workers to outsource corporate tasks such as secretary, personnel, accounting, and translation operations. Over 800 remote workers…

Japanese startup Caster, the company offering online-based office assistant services for companies, announced on Wednesday that its initial listing application on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on October 4 with plans to offer 350,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 52,500 shares in over-allotment options. The underwriting will be led by Daiwa Securities while Caster’s ticker code will be 9331.

Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 650 yen (about $4.5) per share, its market cap is approximately 1.24 billion yen (about $8.5 million). Its share price range will be released on September 14 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on September 19 and pricing on September 25. The final public offering price will be determined on September 26. According to its consolidated statement as of August of 2022, the company posted revenue of 3.34 billion yen ($23 million) with an ordinary loss of 161.8 million yen ($1.1 million).

Founded in September of 2014, the company offers Caster Biz and other services helping enterprises connect with freelance or contract-based remote workers to outsource corporate tasks such as secretary, personnel, accounting, and translation operations. Over 800 remote workers have been registered while the company has served more than 2,900 companies in total as of 2021.

Major shareholders include Incubate Fund (25.24% through two funds), Blue Monday (20.05%, founder and CEO Shota Nakagawa’s asset management company), WiL (11.1%), Daiwa Corporate Investment (9.33%), Strive (6.08%), CEO Nakagawa (3.54%), Gree Co-Invest (3.3%), SMBC Venture Capital (2.8%), Gunosy Capital (2.43%), Hideaki Ishikura (1.7%, managing director), Dip (1.21%, TSE:2379), and Yamaguchi Capital (1.21%).

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Japanese founder launches NFT-based marketplace to redefine physical collectibles ownership

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Some of our readers may recall that we have covered the Smaoku auction site several times over the last decade. The C2C marketplace saw rapid progress, expanding not only in Japan but also in Asia, but in February of 2017, it was acquired by fellow competitor and Japanese C2C marketplace giant Mercari. At the time, Smaoku’s founder Daisaku Harada joined Mercari. In April of 2018, Harada was appointed as CEO of Souzou, a new business subsidiary of Mercari. The new unit created the Mercari Atte app, which allows users to trade items in person, and the Merchari bicycle-sharing service, but shut down in June of 2019 (Mercari Atte is no longer in service, and Merchari was taken over by Neuet and is now in service as Chari Chari). In July of 2022, Harada announced his retirement from the Mercari Group. After that, he has been working as a private investor or as a fellow at the Chiba Dojo fund/community while he revealed that he would launch a new startup before the end of the year. Earlier this year, he moved to Singapore to begin his Web3 business in earnest. Today, he is launching a closed beta version of a web3-based…

Unikura
Image credit: Velvett

Some of our readers may recall that we have covered the Smaoku auction site several times over the last decade. The C2C marketplace saw rapid progress, expanding not only in Japan but also in Asia, but in February of 2017, it was acquired by fellow competitor and Japanese C2C marketplace giant Mercari. At the time, Smaoku’s founder Daisaku Harada joined Mercari.

In April of 2018, Harada was appointed as CEO of Souzou, a new business subsidiary of Mercari. The new unit created the Mercari Atte app, which allows users to trade items in person, and the Merchari bicycle-sharing service, but shut down in June of 2019 (Mercari Atte is no longer in service, and Merchari was taken over by Neuet and is now in service as Chari Chari).

In July of 2022, Harada announced his retirement from the Mercari Group. After that, he has been working as a private investor or as a fellow at the Chiba Dojo fund/community while he revealed that he would launch a new startup before the end of the year. Earlier this year, he moved to Singapore to begin his Web3 business in earnest.

Today, he is launching a closed beta version of a web3-based C2C marketplace called Unikura, probably named after “Universal” and “Kura” (meaning warehouses in Japanese to store items). It is groundbreaking in that it brings the Web3 technology to a marketplace where real things, not virtual items, are being traded.

C2C marketplace without item delivery

Daisaku Harada

Harada came up with the idea while working remotely during the pandemic, where he bought a piece of art to decorate the backdrop of his desk as he was constantly communicating via Zoom and Teams. However, rare and valuable art is something of a hassle to manage. If it is within reach of children, it can be damaged, and if stored in a closet, it can become moldy in a hot and humid environment.

This type of collectible is an asset and can also be an investment, as its value can increase according to the supply-demand balance in the market, but at the end of the day, it is important to exercise the right of ownership and satisfy the desire to own. The more things a collector collects, the more he or she feels the hassle of keeping them close at hand, or even the hassle of unboxing the package when it arrives at the store.

Harada decided to create a marketplace that allows users to store physical items and trade only the proof of ownership via NFT (non-fungible token). When you send your physical item to the nearest Unikura’s warehouse in Japan or Singapore, the platform sends you back the proof of custody as an Ethereum-based NFT. That’s why you can then trade an item with other users by buying and selling the NFT. The buying user doesn’t need to have an physical item in their hand.

If you want to have the physical item in your hand, you can have it sent to yourself from the warehouse by erasing the proof of storage/possession (burning the NFT). The Unikura team is also considering inviting core users to tour the warehouse several times a year, to allow users to see for themselves whether their items are stored properly.

Creating a Third Place for Geeks

One of Unikura’s vault for storing users’ items.
Image credit: Velvett

As a result of the long tail created by the Internet, people’s tastes have become more diverse and everything is collectible. Niche items are generally unappealing but become highly engaging for a certain core group of people, more specifically, geeks. However, because of the niche nature of this type of collectible, it is not easy to find friends to share thoughts and feelings with.

The reason why many people gather at Comiket (Comic Market) even in the midst of extreme heat and typhoon days, besides finding rare collectibles they want, is probably because they are looking for a community where they can talk about them. Similarly, the Unikura marketplace has built a community on Discord where collectors owning similar items can talk to each other, which is one of the benefits offered to users.

In addition, most transactions on the marketplace are for secondary distribution and are recorded on the Ethereum chain. Based on the the history, the marketplace returns a certain amount of rewards to not only the seller who made the most recent transaction but also to those in the past. The system will allow sellers to realize the benefits of using Unikura compared to transactions involving the physical handover of items, which may also help accelerate secondary distribution.

The marketplace has also established a system whereby not only recent sellers but also past sellers receive a certain amount of rewards based on the history of transactions recorded on Ethereum. This system will help sellers realize the benefits of using the marketplace in addition to in-person transactions, and will help revitalize the secondary distribution system.

Although trading cards currently account for the majority of items dealt on the marketplace, Harada intends to enhance its functionality so that a wider variety of items can be traded. The idea of turning physical collectibles into NFT is so called physically-backed NFT. In this space, we can see other startups like Y Combinator-backed Courtyard but it has a possibility of copyright infringement in that the designs created by third parties are converted directly into NFT. The Unikura team has carefully considered the legal issues in this regard to build the system accordingly.

In the high volatile crypto space, we’ve seen a number of fiat-pegged stable coins gold-convertible tokens like Digix. Compared to these efforts to stabilize the crypto value, Unikura’s idea of distributing tokens connected with physical items with value sounds very interesting.

Singapore-based Velvett, Harada’s startup behind the the marketplace, announced in April that it has secured $3 million US in a seed round from Chiba Dojo Fund, Kanousei Ventures, Hirac Fund (operated by Money Forward Venture Partners), W, mint, F Ventures, Flick Shot as well as several unnamed individual investors.

Japanese space robot developer Gitai gets additional $15M in series B extension round

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Tokyo / Los Angeles-based Gitai, the Japanese telexistance robotics startup for the space industry, announced on Wednesday that it has additionally secured $15 million US in a Series B extension round. In conjunction with the $30 million (4 billion yen) funding announced in May, the total amount secured in the Series B extension round has reached $45 million. Participating investors are Green Co-Invest, Pacific Bays Capital, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital while the amount includes loans from MUFG Bank. The robotics startup’s exact funding sum to date has not been disclosed, however, it is believed to have reached over 9 billion yen (over $62 million) in total, including the latest funding. The company plans to use the funds to expand its business operation in the U.S. and for part of the lunar surface demonstration. Prior to launching Gitai in 2016 (under its previous name of MacroSpace), the company’s founder Sho Nakanose previously worked for IBM Japan followed by founding an IT services company in India and sold it to an Indian company. Some of our readers may recall that Yuto Nakanishi, a humanoid scientist/engineer and former CEO of Schaft (acquied by Google X), joined Gitai as COO (now CRO,…

GITAI Lunar Rover

Tokyo / Los Angeles-based Gitai, the Japanese telexistance robotics startup for the space industry, announced on Wednesday that it has additionally secured $15 million US in a Series B extension round. In conjunction with the $30 million (4 billion yen) funding announced in May, the total amount secured in the Series B extension round has reached $45 million.

Participating investors are Green Co-Invest, Pacific Bays Capital, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital while the amount includes loans from MUFG Bank. The robotics startup’s exact funding sum to date has not been disclosed, however, it is believed to have reached over 9 billion yen (over $62 million) in total, including the latest funding. The company plans to use the funds to expand its business operation in the U.S. and for part of the lunar surface demonstration.

Prior to launching Gitai in 2016 (under its previous name of MacroSpace), the company’s founder Sho Nakanose previously worked for IBM Japan followed by founding an IT services company in India and sold it to an Indian company.

Some of our readers may recall that Yuto Nakanishi, a humanoid scientist/engineer and former CEO of Schaft (acquied by Google X), joined Gitai as COO (now CRO, Chief Robot Officer).

Gitai secured $4.1 million US in a Series A round in July of 2019 followed by 1.8 billion yen (about $17 million US in the exchange rate at the time) in a Series B round in March of 2021.

via PR Newswire

Japanese VTuber studio Brave group secures $13.7M to strengthen global expansion

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Tokyo-based Brave group, a Japanese VTuber studio and working on other intellectual property (IP)-related businesses, announced on Wednesday that it has secured 1.99 billion yen (about $13.7 million) in the 1st close of its series D round. This was led by Simplex Capital Investment with participation from Tokyo University of Science Innovation Capital, Money Forward Venture Partners (HIRAC FUND), Revamp, and Adways Ventures. The latest round brought the company’s funding sum up to date to 5.03 billion yen ($34.5 million). Some of our readers may recall that the company secured 300 million (about $2 million) from Animoca Brands Japan back in January. Brave group was founded in 2017 by Japanese serial entrepreneur Keito Noguchi. The company produces and operates VTuber groups, including the virtual music label BlitzWing, and has developed IP-related businesses, a platform business using the Brave Engine metaverse engine in addition to pioneering emerging areas such as e-sports and Web3. The company established a US subsidiary in June to launch V4Mirai, a VTuber project focused on English-speaking markets. Brave group acquired Virtual Entertainment and MateReal in June. Virtual Entertainment operates manages Buisseppo! e-sports-focused VTuber group while MateReal manages the Palette Project female virtual idol group. In July, the…

Image credit: Brave group

Tokyo-based Brave group, a Japanese VTuber studio and working on other intellectual property (IP)-related businesses, announced on Wednesday that it has secured 1.99 billion yen (about $13.7 million) in the 1st close of its series D round. This was led by Simplex Capital Investment with participation from Tokyo University of Science Innovation Capital, Money Forward Venture Partners (HIRAC FUND), Revamp, and Adways Ventures.

The latest round brought the company’s funding sum up to date to 5.03 billion yen ($34.5 million). Some of our readers may recall that the company secured 300 million (about $2 million) from Animoca Brands Japan back in January.

Brave group was founded in 2017 by Japanese serial entrepreneur Keito Noguchi. The company produces and operates VTuber groups, including the virtual music label BlitzWing, and has developed IP-related businesses, a platform business using the Brave Engine metaverse engine in addition to pioneering emerging areas such as e-sports and Web3. The company established a US subsidiary in June to launch V4Mirai, a VTuber project focused on English-speaking markets.

Brave group acquired Virtual Entertainment and MateReal in June. Virtual Entertainment operates manages Buisseppo! e-sports-focused VTuber group while MateReal manages the Palette Project female virtual idol group. In July, the company acquired Geek Hive which offers digital transformation support for enterprises. The company will use the funds to strengthen overseas expansion and more aggressively merge and acquire other companies to further diversify revenue stream.

via PR Times    Summarized by ChatGPT

Xpression Chat lets you talk with ChatGPT-powered virtual human of your favor

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Tokyo-based EmbodyMe, the Japanese startup behind VR and deepfake technologies, launched a new app called Xpression Chat on Thursday, which allows you talk to any virtual human of your favor through ChatGPT integration. The app is available for for iOS and Android. According to the company’s CEO Issay Yoshida, the most popular response from beta users has been to create avatars from celebrity photos and have them talk. Xpression Chat is taking on the realm of the virtual human. By simply uploading a photo of a person of your choice, you’ll be allowed to experience the realm of the virtual human in your mobile. The company hopes to use the app as a starting point to propose use cases to various businesses. For this reason, the company will also start offering SDKs (software developer kits) for multiple platforms – iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. According to Yoshida, the technology’s use cases for business may include virtual customer representative using digital signage. In the scene like, let’s say, asking for product recommendations in a store or getting directions to a location in the airport, representative will be replaced by virtual human sooner or later, because of the need for multilingual support…

Tokyo-based EmbodyMe, the Japanese startup behind VR and deepfake technologies, launched a new app called Xpression Chat on Thursday, which allows you talk to any virtual human of your favor through ChatGPT integration. The app is available for for iOS and Android. According to the company’s CEO Issay Yoshida, the most popular response from beta users has been to create avatars from celebrity photos and have them talk.

Xpression Chat is taking on the realm of the virtual human. By simply uploading a photo of a person of your choice, you’ll be allowed to experience the realm of the virtual human in your mobile. The company hopes to use the app as a starting point to propose use cases to various businesses. For this reason, the company will also start offering SDKs (software developer kits) for multiple platforms – iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.

Xpression Chat
Image credit: EmbodyMe

According to Yoshida, the technology’s use cases for business may include virtual customer representative using digital signage. In the scene like, let’s say, asking for product recommendations in a store or getting directions to a location in the airport, representative will be replaced by virtual human sooner or later, because of the need for multilingual support and labor shortage. If the LLM (large language model) used here has an access to more information sources to refer to, you’ll be never told that “I have no idea. Would you like to ask someone else?” Yoshida says “Virtual humans will definitely answer you in a smarter way”.

He also thinks it could be applied to education and other areas. In addition, they may offer services to influencers who constantly stream live programs. For example, a virtual chatbot that can behave as if the influencer is could expand the possibilities of his/her activities. Compared to traditional chatbot services, which are often text or voice only, Xpression Chat would allow them to keep their own appearance making it easier to keep engaging with their fans even in a form of virtual human.

Yoshida says,

If we develop a virtual human-based chatbot, it will be much more personal rather than existing virtual performers such as Vocaloid or VTuber.

EmbodyMe will focus on cultivating business demand by presenting the app combining the company’s own technology with the latest AI technology. The app is offered on a freemium basis, but if users choose a paid premium option, the number of conversations will be unlimited. The premium plan also allows more easily users to import images for their avatar from mobile photo storage and image searches. The premium plan includes a 7-day free trial period.

Fake Busters raises $5.6M to strengthen AI-powered authenticity check for branded goods

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Tokyo-based IVA, the Japanese startup behind the Fake Busters AI-powered authenticity detection service for branded goods, announced on Wednesday that it has secured about 800 million yen (about $5.8 million US) in the latest round. The amount includes loans from Mizuho Bank and Resona Bank. This is the first funding for the five-year-old startup. Participating investors are Mercari (TSE:4385), De Capital family office, and four angel investors – Shogo Kawada (co-founder of DeNA), Yuzuru Honda (founder of Freakout Holdings), Eiko Matsumura, and Yusuke Masuda. Fake Busters offers product authenticity services by combining a team of experienced appraisers with diverse backgrounds, state-of-the-art specialized equipment, and AI-powered authenticity detection technology. The company is capable of appraising 88 brands in the fields of sneakers, luxury goods, apparel, and accessories, which have large secondary distribution demand. The company has appraised a total of 1.5 million items to date, and offers appraisal services tailored to customer needs, such as quick appraisals based on images as well as complete appraisals based on actual items. The company uses the funds to plans to further enhance its AI capability, which currently has a 99.9% authenticity rate, to speed up the process, and to add an express option that…

Image credit: IVA

Tokyo-based IVA, the Japanese startup behind the Fake Busters AI-powered authenticity detection service for branded goods, announced on Wednesday that it has secured about 800 million yen (about $5.8 million US) in the latest round. The amount includes loans from Mizuho Bank and Resona Bank. This is the first funding for the five-year-old startup. Participating investors are Mercari (TSE:4385), De Capital family office, and four angel investors – Shogo Kawada (co-founder of DeNA), Yuzuru Honda (founder of Freakout Holdings), Eiko Matsumura, and Yusuke Masuda.

Fake Busters offers product authenticity services by combining a team of experienced appraisers with diverse backgrounds, state-of-the-art specialized equipment, and AI-powered authenticity detection technology. The company is capable of appraising 88 brands in the fields of sneakers, luxury goods, apparel, and accessories, which have large secondary distribution demand. The company has appraised a total of 1.5 million items to date, and offers appraisal services tailored to customer needs, such as quick appraisals based on images as well as complete appraisals based on actual items.

The company uses the funds to plans to further enhance its AI capability, which currently has a 99.9% authenticity rate, to speed up the process, and to add an express option that will provide results in 60-90 minutes, previously within 48 hours. The company will expand applying the AI-based authenticity detection into further product categories such as luxury brand bags, jewelry, and trading cards.

Launched a Taiwanese office in June, the company plans to set up a subsidiary in Mainland China in August with consideration of expanding into the South Korea, Southeast Asia, and North America markets in the future. The service supports Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and nine major currencies.

via PR Times

Japan’s Ecbo launches ‘Airbnb of baggage storage’ in Taiwan as first overseas expansion

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Tokyo-based Ecbo, the Japanese startup offering the Ecbo Cloak luggage storage service and the Ecbo Pickup service, held a press conference in Taipei on Friday to announce the launch of the luggage storage service in Taiwan as its first overseas expansion. Our readers may recall that the company stated that it is looking at the expansion into 50 countries by 2025 when it announced its Series B round in June. The Taiwan expansion is made possible through partnership with local travel trading company Sanpu Travel Group (三普旅遊集團) and H.I.S. Taiwan (三賢旅行社). According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, or simply JNTO, more than 21 million Japanese visited Taiwan last year, and it is said that about 70% of them were forced to spend 15 to 30 minutes to find available coin lockers. Thinking about Taiwan Main Station, for example, only a few hundred coin lockers are available within its neighborhood while approximately 500,000 people use the public transit gateway every day. By bringing the Ecbo Cloak service into Taiwan, it may help not only Japanese and other foreign visitors but also local people leave and store their luggage safely and comfortably. In Taiwan, the service is initially offered at 30…

From left: Tomokazu Saze / 佐瀬友一 (Taipei Branch Manager, H.I.S. Taiwan / 三賢旅行社) – Shinichi Kudo / 工藤慎一 (CEO, Ecbo) – Mic Inoue Hsieh / 謝長成 (CEO, Sanpu Travel / 三普旅行社)

Tokyo-based Ecbo, the Japanese startup offering the Ecbo Cloak luggage storage service and the Ecbo Pickup service, held a press conference in Taipei on Friday to announce the launch of the luggage storage service in Taiwan as its first overseas expansion. Our readers may recall that the company stated that it is looking at the expansion into 50 countries by 2025 when it announced its Series B round in June. The Taiwan expansion is made possible through partnership with local travel trading company Sanpu Travel Group (三普旅遊集團) and H.I.S. Taiwan (三賢旅行社).

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, or simply JNTO, more than 21 million Japanese visited Taiwan last year, and it is said that about 70% of them were forced to spend 15 to 30 minutes to find available coin lockers. Thinking about Taiwan Main Station, for example, only a few hundred coin lockers are available within its neighborhood while approximately 500,000 people use the public transit gateway every day. By bringing the Ecbo Cloak service into Taiwan, it may help not only Japanese and other foreign visitors but also local people leave and store their luggage safely and comfortably.

In Taiwan, the service is initially offered at 30 locations in Taipei, including Jing Sheng Yu flagship store / 京盛宇 旗艦店 (Taiwanese tea), Jin Yu Tang City Hall store / 金玉堂 市府店 (stationery), and Lohas Pottery flagship store on Dihua Street / 陸寶 迪化街旗艦店 (ceramic tea utensils). In addition to aiming to make the service available at 500 locations in Taiwan by 2025, the company want to allow customers to easily order delivering their luggage through the app.

Founded in May of 2015 by CEO Shinichi Kudo (工藤慎一), who speaks both Japanese and Chinese fluently, Ecbo began offering its service in January of 2017, matching people who want to leave their luggage with places to store it. The service allows tourists to leave their luggage at on-street locations such as cafes, beauty salons, and manga cafes. Now available at more than 1,000 locations, it can also offer a reservation function and insurance for checked luggage while all payments can be made by credit card.

via PR Times

Japan’s Pixie Dust Technologies, wave-control tech startup, makes NASDAQ debut on Tuesday

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Tokyo-based Pixie Dust Technologies, the Japanese startup focused on commercialization of innovative products and meta-materials utilizing its proprietary HAGEN wave-control technology, announced today that it will be listed on the Nasdaq market. The ticker symbol is PXDT. Specifically, the company decided to issue 1,666,667 American Depository Shares (ADSs) at a price of $9.00 per ADS through an initial public offering (IPO). The listing is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on August 1, EST. The offering is expected to generate net proceeds of approximately $13.8 million, which will be used primarily for the development and commercialization of the technology and its related products, working capital, and general corporate purposes. The Bloomberg website shows the startup’s share price on standby. In addition, Pixie Dust Technologies has granted the underwriters a 45-day over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 250,000 ADSs. If this option is exercised, the company will issue an additional 250,000 ordinary shares at a price net of underwriting fees. The company was founded in May 2017 by CEO Yoichi Ochiai, Associate professor at Tsukuba University, and COO Yasuichiro Murakami, who has worked in strategic consulting and other fields. The company secured 645 million yen in…

Image credit: Pixie Dust Technologies

Tokyo-based Pixie Dust Technologies, the Japanese startup focused on commercialization of innovative products and meta-materials utilizing its proprietary HAGEN wave-control technology, announced today that it will be listed on the Nasdaq market. The ticker symbol is PXDT.

Specifically, the company decided to issue 1,666,667 American Depository Shares (ADSs) at a price of $9.00 per ADS through an initial public offering (IPO). The listing is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on August 1, EST.

The offering is expected to generate net proceeds of approximately $13.8 million, which will be used primarily for the development and commercialization of the technology and its related products, working capital, and general corporate purposes. The Bloomberg website shows the startup’s share price on standby.

In addition, Pixie Dust Technologies has granted the underwriters a 45-day over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 250,000 ADSs. If this option is exercised, the company will issue an additional 250,000 ordinary shares at a price net of underwriting fees.

The company was founded in May 2017 by CEO Yoichi Ochiai, Associate professor at Tsukuba University, and COO Yasuichiro Murakami, who has worked in strategic consulting and other fields.

The company secured 645 million yen in November of 2017, 3.846 billion yen in a Series B round in May of 2019, and approximately 2.17 billion yen in a Series C round in October of 2022.

Their backers include Incubate Fund, Tohoku University Venture Partners, Shionogi (TSE:4507), Suzuyo, Nomura Co. (TSE:9716), Axiom Asia, INCJ, SBI Investment, Toppan Printing (TSE:7911), SMBC Venture Capital, Value Co-Creation Venture Fund (managed by NEC Capital Solutions and Venture Lab Investment), Mizuho Capital, KDDI Open Innovation Fund (managed by KDDI and Global Brain), K4 Ventures, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, and Dentsu.

via PR TIMES   Summarized by ChatGPT

Spiker secures $600K in series B, develops AI monitoring baby’s heartbeat at birth in Africa

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Based out of Tokyo’s neighboring city of Chiba and Rwanda’s capital Kigali, Japanese startup Spiker has been developing and deploying a solution called Alert-Monitor, comprising of the artificial intelligence (AI) focused on analyzing fetal heart rate labor chart data and its central monitoring software. The company announced on Thursday that it has raised 83 million yen (about $600,000) from Inclusion Japan and DG Incubation in a pre-series A round. The AI technology is capable of analyzing medical data measured by delivery monitoring equipment and providing on-time support for appropriate medical decisions. As many as 3.9 million babies die annually in developing countries, especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, which is equivalent to 95% of the world’s perinatal deaths. To solve this problem, appropriate use of cardiotocography (CTG) data is expected. However, it is difficult to provide all midwives and nurses with the training necessary to analyze CTG data in developing countries because of a serious shortage of medical personnel. The Alert-Monitor solution help them make appropriate medical judgment without the need for instruction and training of skilled physicians. It can lead to realizing appropriate intervention at medical institutions suffering from a shortage of personnel. Engineers from Rwanda, India, and…

Image credit: Spiker

Based out of Tokyo’s neighboring city of Chiba and Rwanda’s capital Kigali, Japanese startup Spiker has been developing and deploying a solution called Alert-Monitor, comprising of the artificial intelligence (AI) focused on analyzing fetal heart rate labor chart data and its central monitoring software. The company announced on Thursday that it has raised 83 million yen (about $600,000) from Inclusion Japan and DG Incubation in a pre-series A round.

The AI technology is capable of analyzing medical data measured by delivery monitoring equipment and providing on-time support for appropriate medical decisions. As many as 3.9 million babies die annually in developing countries, especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, which is equivalent to 95% of the world’s perinatal deaths.

To solve this problem, appropriate use of cardiotocography (CTG) data is expected. However, it is difficult to provide all midwives and nurses with the training necessary to analyze CTG data in developing countries because of a serious shortage of medical personnel. The Alert-Monitor solution help them make appropriate medical judgment without the need for instruction and training of skilled physicians. It can lead to realizing appropriate intervention at medical institutions suffering from a shortage of personnel.

Engineers from Rwanda, India, and Japan are engaged in developing the AI technology at Spiker. In addition to repeating demonstration tests in Africa, where the number of deliveries is about five times that of Japan, the team is conducting speedy collaboration with Japanese engineers. The company plans to use the funds rto make necessary preparations for sales activities in Africa, AI development, and medical device certification.

via Spiker