THE BRIDGE

Startups

Archelis wearable chair from Japan helps surgeons through long hours of surgery

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This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese. As IT industry workers normally work facing to desktops or laptops, more than a few of them are willing to use items like a standing desk to avoid sitting at work for all day. While there are many jobs that let people work while standing, one of the hardest is probably surgical operations which force surgeons to keep standing for long hours. A wearable chair called Archelis (meaning ‘walkable chair’ in Japanese) is designed for surgeons, allowing them to sit during surgery, thus reducing fatigue during long and physically demanding operations. It was developed for people in the medical field, but it can also help any worker in any industry who must stand for long periods. [1] Archelis was developed by Yokohama-based mold factory Nitto in collaboration with Chiba University’s Center for Frontier Medical Engineering, Hiroaki Nishimura Design, and Japan Polymer Technology. They aim to begin selling the product this summer. Translated by Minako Ambiru via Mother First Edited by Kurt Hanson and Masaru Ikeda Regarding wearable chairs, Swiss startup Noonee was in the news last year for developing a line for factory workers. A product similar to “Archelis”…

archelis_featuredimage

This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese.

As IT industry workers normally work facing to desktops or laptops, more than a few of them are willing to use items like a standing desk to avoid sitting at work for all day. While there are many jobs that let people work while standing, one of the hardest is probably surgical operations which force surgeons to keep standing for long hours.

A wearable chair called Archelis (meaning ‘walkable chair’ in Japanese) is designed for surgeons, allowing them to sit during surgery, thus reducing fatigue during long and physically demanding operations. It was developed for people in the medical field, but it can also help any worker in any industry who must stand for long periods. [1]

Archelis was developed by Yokohama-based mold factory Nitto in collaboration with Chiba University’s Center for Frontier Medical Engineering, Hiroaki Nishimura Design, and Japan Polymer Technology. They aim to begin selling the product this summer.

Translated by Minako Ambiru via Mother First
Edited by Kurt Hanson and Masaru Ikeda


  1. Regarding wearable chairs, Swiss startup Noonee was in the news last year for developing a line for factory workers. A product similar to “Archelis” or “Noonee” can be found gaining patents - expired since - 37 years ago. The name for this product given by its inventor, one “Robert Bonner,” was in fact “wearable chair.”

Meet SD Factory, Japan’s matching platform of infrastructure for clothes manufacturing

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See the original story in Japanese. Usually, means of contacting apparel factories in Japan are limited to word-of-mouth or assistance by acquaintances. Since there are difficulties in finding appropriate factories, it is not easy to launch anew an apparel business or to manufacture products that are different from conventional ones, so that a new idea can barely be realized in this field. Japan’s SD Factory aims to solve such problems. SD Factory, launched last November by Osaka-based Raccoon (TSE:3031), is a matching platform for those wanting to order manufacturing of clothes and find domestic apparel infrastructure such as factories or patterners. Currently 22 factories are listed on the website with each detailed information including the number of lots, unit price, completion date, characteristics or pictures of the factory inside. Based on these information, one can search out factories and inquire or order from them. Although the service has just started up recently, some business negotiations for various matters have already been proceeding, based on requests of from sole proprietors to major trading companies. The average number of employees for listed factories is about 30. For factories which cannot afford information provision or sales promotion, SD Factory has turned into an…

sd-factory_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Usually, means of contacting apparel factories in Japan are limited to word-of-mouth or assistance by acquaintances. Since there are difficulties in finding appropriate factories, it is not easy to launch anew an apparel business or to manufacture products that are different from conventional ones, so that a new idea can barely be realized in this field. Japan’s SD Factory aims to solve such problems.

SD Factory, launched last November by Osaka-based Raccoon (TSE:3031), is a matching platform for those wanting to order manufacturing of clothes and find domestic apparel infrastructure such as factories or patterners. Currently 22 factories are listed on the website with each detailed information including the number of lots, unit price, completion date, characteristics or pictures of the factory inside. Based on these information, one can search out factories and inquire or order from them.

Although the service has just started up recently, some business negotiations for various matters have already been proceeding, based on requests of from sole proprietors to major trading companies. The average number of employees for listed factories is about 30. For factories which cannot afford information provision or sales promotion, SD Factory has turned into an effective tool for customer acquisition.

Bringing diversity to the apparel productline

The operating company Raccoon had been originally running a wholesaling website focused on apparel and grocery products, especially for the retailer Super Delivery. More than 1,000 manufacturers and 40,000 retailers have been registered on it. Behind the development of SD Factory, this conventional service revealed a problem in the apparel field.

Racoon’s executive secretary Koichi Nagamine says:

We received many requests from downstream manufacturers or retailers to introduce them domestic factories. They wanted to manufacture their own products but had no idea which factories to ask.

Moreover, a result of our own survey indicated current problems which domestic factories have in common, so we came to start development of a solution which connects manufacturers and factories.

A lack of means to connect creators and factories will impact the apparel industry and customers as a whole. If manufacturers pursue only their profitability, only similar products would be going on the market, and that can spoil the joy of shopping or ideals of consumers. However, since retailers or creators that have interesting ideas do not know how to turn them into concrete products, the variety of products on the market cannot be expanded.

By support of SD Factory for matching these creators with factories having capable of producing, appearance of unique products in terms of prices, shapes, or materials, can be expected and that will bring the activation of the apparel field.

Eliminating the dull image of factories

Kuriyama Sewing in Osaka
Kuriyama Sewing in Osaka

The point which the team was most particular about upon the development of SD Factory was being a cool website especially for younger users. That was to eliminate the dull image of typical factories. All photos on the website are taken by Raccoon’s staff in order to secure a high quality of the website. In addition, detailed impressions of the factories are described on the website by sales staff who actually visited there, trying to convey the atmosphere or the passion of the factory workers.

The reason for sticking to being cool is also upon looking forward to Japanese factories’ future 10 or 20 years on. As the birthrate is falling and the society rapidly aging in Japan, the younger labor population has been gradually decreasing. Without young workers to keep alive the skills and the technologies, the very existence of Japanese factories may become threatened.

Nagamine pointed out:

In spite of the move to create brand new products, the factories’ future is under threat. I think that this is because young Japanese do not regard working at factories as an employment option.

A lack of young and superior human resources will result in the decline of the entire industry. I want them to feel first how fun manufacturing is or how cool the existence of a particular technology is.

Currently focusing on matching companies or sole proprietors with factories, they are also considering the business of securing and developing human resources in the apparel field henceforth. Although there are many graduates from technical colleges that relate to apparel, most of them get a job as apparel shop salespersons. Their future vision is to provide opportunities to launch business careers for students who are interested in manufacturing, and to provide for successors to factories.

Anyone can realize their own products

The ordering users being targeted by SD Factory include not only companies but also sole proprietors or individuals who want small-scale production. You may think typical factories tend to avoid small lot orders. It is the opposite however, according to Nagamine. While small lot production requires more labor than mass production, it ensures appropriate remunerations and holds the possibility of business expansion, so that factories would rather receive small lot orders at preferance. Upon gaining exposure at SD Factory, further new orders may be expected as well.

For example, a female office worker searched out a factory utilizing SD Factory, and established her own brand. A system for anyone with just an idea to realize any product could become a fact of life in the apparel industry.

For the moment, SD Factory aims to increase the number of registered factories or patterners. Additionally it plans to enhance functions including those for search or schedule management.

Nagamine concluded:

We hope new made-in-Japan products or brands will appear from retailers or designers utilizing SD Factory. That will also act as industrial stimulus. Moreover, our export sales support service called SD Export can provide the infrastructure for exportation.

Translated by Taijiro Takeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Hatena’s IPO filing approved as Japan’s first for 2016

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Kyoto-headquartered internet company Hatena had earlier submitted an IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), which was approved on Thursday. This is the first IPO approved by the TSE this year. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on 24 February with plans to offer 370,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 113,200 shares in over-allotment options, for a total of 385,000 shares. The underwriting will be led by SMBC Nikko Securities. According to the consolidated statement as of July 2015, they posted a revenue of 1.4 billion yen ($11.9 million) and an ordinary profit of 150 million yen ($1.3 million). Major shareholders include the company’s founder and chairman Junya Kondo (66.3%) and its employee stock owners. Since its launch back in 2001, the company has been offering several internet services including blogging platform, online bookmarking service and native ad platform. In association with Japanese game giant Nintendo, Hatena developed in 2012 a communication platform for the Nintendo Wii called Miiverse. Hatena derives 30.9% of its revenue from Nintendo. While 92 companies were IPO-ed in 2015 in Japan, many financial interests say that 90 to 100 Japanese companies are expected to be approved for IPO…

hatena-reception
Image Credit: Norio Nakayama (licensed under Creative Commons)

Kyoto-headquartered internet company Hatena had earlier submitted an IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), which was approved on Thursday. This is the first IPO approved by the TSE this year.

The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on 24 February with plans to offer 370,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 113,200 shares in over-allotment options, for a total of 385,000 shares. The underwriting will be led by SMBC Nikko Securities. According to the consolidated statement as of July 2015, they posted a revenue of 1.4 billion yen ($11.9 million) and an ordinary profit of 150 million yen ($1.3 million).

junya-kondo_portrait
Junya Kondo, Founder and Chairman, Hatena

Major shareholders include the company’s founder and chairman Junya Kondo (66.3%) and its employee stock owners. Since its launch back in 2001, the company has been offering several internet services including blogging platform, online bookmarking service and native ad platform. In association with Japanese game giant Nintendo, Hatena developed in 2012 a communication platform for the Nintendo Wii called Miiverse. Hatena derives 30.9% of its revenue from Nintendo.

While 92 companies were IPO-ed in 2015 in Japan, many financial interests say that 90 to 100 Japanese companies are expected to be approved for IPO this year.

See also:

Edited by Kurt Hanson

Japan’s Vinclu gains $768K in funding to develop hologram assistant for smart living

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See the original story in Japanese. Japanese IoT (Internet of Things) startup Vinclu announced on Monday that it is developing Gatebox, a hologram-based communication robot allowing users to enjoy their daily lives with their favorite 2D character. The company also announced that it has fundraised from several Japanese investors to prepare for the launch of the product by a crowdfunding campaign in the fall of 2016. Participating investors in this round are Incubate Fund, Primal Capital, and iSG Investment Works, in addition to loans from various financial institutions are utilized. The fund gathered totaled some 90 million yen (about $768,000). Along with the funds announced, Hiroshi Sasaki (General Partner, Primal Capital) as external board director and Toru Akaura (General Partner, Incubate Fund) as auditor, joined the management board of Vinclu. As for details such as the third-party shareholdings ratio and fund transfer date have not been disclosed. Now, some very intriguing products and approaches. As shown in the moving pictures Gatebox has a 2D character as a hologram projected inside the box which can be spoken to for provision such as turning on lamps and setting the alarm. Vinclu CEO Minori Takechi notes that in principle the hologram tech as…

See the original story in Japanese.

Japanese IoT (Internet of Things) startup Vinclu announced on Monday that it is developing Gatebox, a hologram-based communication robot allowing users to enjoy their daily lives with their favorite 2D character. The company also announced that it has fundraised from several Japanese investors to prepare for the launch of the product by a crowdfunding campaign in the fall of 2016. Participating investors in this round are Incubate Fund, Primal Capital, and iSG Investment Works, in addition to loans from various financial institutions are utilized.

The fund gathered totaled some 90 million yen (about $768,000). Along with the funds announced, Hiroshi Sasaki (General Partner, Primal Capital) as external board director and Toru Akaura (General Partner, Incubate Fund) as auditor, joined the management board of Vinclu. As for details such as the third-party shareholdings ratio and fund transfer date have not been disclosed.

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The Vinclu investor/founder team

Now, some very intriguing products and approaches. As shown in the moving pictures Gatebox has a 2D character as a hologram projected inside the box which can be spoken to for provision such as turning on lamps and setting the alarm. Vinclu CEO Minori Takechi notes that in principle the hologram tech as well as the boxtop projector were those used at a Miku Hatsune concert.

See also:

There are outlooks that during 2016 the Smart Home will become commonplace upon dissemination and in fact many startups related to smart locks and security in Japan.

As of now the role of robots in the Smart Home is within the “home controller” realm. The development of social media our lives have come to adopt lifelogs and updates online without being conscious of them.

Although at first glance the gatebox 2D character is a product with strong “geeky” features, but it is characterized as a versatile controller which makes everyday life smarter. Again as shown before in the moving pictures (and as indicated by the prototype) it is now at the simple consumer electronics control and character operations stage that henceforth is seen operating on respective storage data.

gatebox_technology

Yet according to Takechi, although specific moves are not ready his main goal currently is to enhance the corporate structure in time for a crowdfunding campaign in the fall.

Recently in Japan SoftBank’s Pepper has shown the possibilities, and this year’s CES saw several Japanese companies garnering attention across the Pacific in Las Vegas. On the other hand there are recurrent problems with robots that constantly require maintenance and occupy space. In view of this the Vinclu software approach that is constantly updated online through use of a hologram offers new possibilities.

Personally (though ignoring the visual aspects) this software approach is seen becoming the ultimate family use form. As an aside, Takechi’s explanation was that not only is the hologram just “for the box” but can be “materialized” in the room as well.

Translated by “Tex” Pomeroy
Edited by Masaru Ikeda

Japan’s business chat tool Chatwork lands $12.8M funding to fuel global expansion

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Osaka-based Chatwork, a Japanese startup that operates a cloud-based chat tool for business under the same name, announced today that it has fundraised 1.5 billion yen ($12.8 million) in a series B round from Jafco, Shinsei Corporate Investment, SMBC Venture Capital, and GMO Venture Partners. This follows the company’s previous $2.5 million funding in April 2015. The latest funding means the company has raised 1.8 billion yen ($15.3 million) to date. Since its launch in March of 2011, the Chatwork app has been providing a business chat environment for corporate users, with features like group chat, task management, file management, and video conferencing. They are serving 86,000 corporate users worldwide, many of whom are small and medium-size enterprises. With the funding, the company will boost service expansion in the United States and Asian markets, aiming to acquire 150,000 companies as users in three years. See also: Japan’s Chatwork brings its business chat tool to Europe Edited by Kurt Hanson

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Osaka-based Chatwork, a Japanese startup that operates a cloud-based chat tool for business under the same name, announced today that it has fundraised 1.5 billion yen ($12.8 million) in a series B round from Jafco, Shinsei Corporate Investment, SMBC Venture Capital, and GMO Venture Partners. This follows the company’s previous $2.5 million funding in April 2015. The latest funding means the company has raised 1.8 billion yen ($15.3 million) to date.

Since its launch in March of 2011, the Chatwork app has been providing a business chat environment for corporate users, with features like group chat, task management, file management, and video conferencing. They are serving 86,000 corporate users worldwide, many of whom are small and medium-size enterprises. With the funding, the company will boost service expansion in the United States and Asian markets, aiming to acquire 150,000 companies as users in three years.

See also:

Edited by Kurt Hanson

Skydisc lands $855K to enhance detachable sensor packages for agriculture et al.

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Fukuoka-based Skydisc, a Japanese startup focused on developing detachable sensors and cloud services for data management, announced on Wednesday that it has fundraised 100 million yen (about $855,000) from three Japanese VC firms. Participating investors are Nissay Capital (investment arm of Japan’s leading insurance company) , Archetype Ventures (investment arm of Archetype), and Fukuoka-based VC firm Dogan. Since its launch back in October of 2013, Skydisc has been developing a variety of detachable sensor devices and the cloud for storing, then analyzing data from these devices. Prior to founding Skydisc, the company’s founder and CEO Osamu Hashimoto had been committed to the study of data analysis using high-speed distributed processing at Kyushu University. He was also developing sensor devices to acquire data in the study, which led him to launch the Skydisc business. Ginga Box, the company’s flagship sensor product line-up, allows users to choose up to three detachable sensors out of 14 different sensors to plug into a circuit board. Data acquired with these sensors can be monitored on Ginga Cloud, the company’s data management and analysis platform. Skydisc’s devices typically can detect temperature, humidity, three-axis acceleration, carbon dioxide concentration, and PM2.5 (particulate matter 2.5) concentration so that it…

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Skydisc’s Ginga Box detachable sensor series (Image: Fukuoka Startup Selection, Fukuoka City Office)

Fukuoka-based Skydisc, a Japanese startup focused on developing detachable sensors and cloud services for data management, announced on Wednesday that it has fundraised 100 million yen (about $855,000) from three Japanese VC firms. Participating investors are Nissay Capital (investment arm of Japan’s leading insurance company) , Archetype Ventures (investment arm of Archetype), and Fukuoka-based VC firm Dogan. Since its launch back in October of 2013, Skydisc has been developing a variety of detachable sensor devices and the cloud for storing, then analyzing data from these devices.

Prior to founding Skydisc, the company’s founder and CEO Osamu Hashimoto had been committed to the study of data analysis using high-speed distributed processing at Kyushu University. He was also developing sensor devices to acquire data in the study, which led him to launch the Skydisc business.

Ginga Box, the company’s flagship sensor product line-up, allows users to choose up to three detachable sensors out of 14 different sensors to plug into a circuit board. Data acquired with these sensors can be monitored on Ginga Cloud, the company’s data management and analysis platform.

Skydisc’s devices typically can detect temperature, humidity, three-axis acceleration, carbon dioxide concentration, and PM2.5 (particulate matter 2.5) concentration so that it can be applied to environment managing businesses, logistics and distribution, agriculture, and other business sectors. Especially for the agricultural industry, Skydisc already started offering an optimized package called Hatamori, literally meaning vegetable field keeper.

The company claims that they will use the funds to solidify management foundation, hire talents to strengthen developing sensors and analyzing acquired data, in addition to polishing up the product management process for mass-manufactured sensor devices.

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Skydisc CEO Osamu Hashimoto delivers his pitch at Myojo Waraku 2015, Fukuoka, Japan

Via TechCrunch Japan

This startup wants to attract Greater China with livecast marketing, secures seed round

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See the original story in Japanese. Taiwan-based Shiryouko Studio, offering online video marketing for mobile game developers and other companies, unveiled on Friday that it has fundraised 30 million yen ($256,000) from Accord Ventures, Adways (TSE:2489), and Spicemart. Accord Ventures was launched back in November by Fumihiko Ishimaru, the former CEO of Tokyo-based startup accelerator Open Network Lab, while Spicemart is a mobile game-focused research firm spun off from Japanese mobile game developer (The) One of Them. Shiryouko Studio is being managed by Capsule, a startup launched back in 2013 by Shusei Hanibuchi (a.k.a. Xiaoha in Mandarin) who used to work with Shanghai-based Adways China as an account managing director. Doing business mainly in Taiwan, the company streamcasts live programs every day from their satellite studio in Ximending, Taiwan’s busiest shopping district and the source of local fashion and subculture. In their interactive show, popular YouTubers as emcees feature gameplays of participating players in the studio involving spectators passing by to help Japanese game developers expose their product to the local market. According to Hanibuchi, the program production cost varies depending on the size or the frequency of the show but their client can order producing a show starting at…

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Shiryouko Studio is located just in front of Ximen Station of Taipei Metro (Image: Google Street View)

See the original story in Japanese.

Taiwan-based Shiryouko Studio, offering online video marketing for mobile game developers and other companies, unveiled on Friday that it has fundraised 30 million yen ($256,000) from Accord Ventures, Adways (TSE:2489), and Spicemart. Accord Ventures was launched back in November by Fumihiko Ishimaru, the former CEO of Tokyo-based startup accelerator Open Network Lab, while Spicemart is a mobile game-focused research firm spun off from Japanese mobile game developer (The) One of Them.

Shiryouko Studio is being managed by Capsule, a startup launched back in 2013 by Shusei Hanibuchi (a.k.a. Xiaoha in Mandarin) who used to work with Shanghai-based Adways China as an account managing director. Doing business mainly in Taiwan, the company streamcasts live programs every day from their satellite studio in Ximending, Taiwan’s busiest shopping district and the source of local fashion and subculture. In their interactive show, popular YouTubers as emcees feature gameplays of participating players in the studio involving spectators passing by to help Japanese game developers expose their product to the local market.

shusei-hanibuchi_portrait
Shusei Hanibuchi, Founder of Capsule / Shiryouko Studio

According to Hanibuchi, the program production cost varies depending on the size or the frequency of the show but their client can order producing a show starting at hundreds of thousand dollars including fees for emcees, performers and directors. Shiryouko Studio wants to use the funds to enhance a platform to analyze video marketing effects, acquire clients from other verticals beyond mobile gaming, and start working on the expansion to mainland China.

Hanibuchi explained:

We already have an online dashboard for in-house use so that our team members can measure and analyze performance to report to our clients. However, we will enhance it so that our clients can log onto it by themselves to check out the performance of their sponsored shows.

In addition, we will be expanding to mainland China. In China, they typically use messaging apps to find and hire online video show emcees but we want to build an online marketplace dealing with them.

In China, there’s no YouTuber because YouTube is unavailable there, however, many video show emcees are actively performing on local video sharing sites like BiliBili and Youku Todou (NYSE:YOKU). As seen in an example like China-based cross-border e-commerce platform Bolome, it is obvious that the demand of such video show emcees or LP-ers is steadily increasing. The recent Asian expansion of Kamcord and other gameplay video sharing platforms is boosting such trends.

Reference:

studio_picSiryouko Studio now has about 30 staffers in Taipei for studio management and program production as well as expanding to the Cantonese speaking market represented by Hong Kong. They plan to strengthen sales in Tokyo to serve more Japanese companies from other verticals than game developers, which typically expect inbound demands from the Greater China market.

Hanibuchi is well known in Taiwan as an entrepreneur doing his business all across Asia, presenting at IdeasShow and other many startup conferences out there.

In the video below, a local news channel reports how Siryouko Studio’s livecast attracts local game players and viewers.

Japanese duo launches Berguide, helping Kilimanjaro climbers find best guides online

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See the original story in Japanese. A platform linking mountain climbers and guides has been born. Two Japanese based in Berlin has founded Berguide. Berguide is a platform which matches climbers with local guided tours. At present it is only offered for tours of Mt. Kilimanjaro, offering people wishing to ascend the Tanzanian mountain tours for half a dozen possible climbing routes. Each tour has a web page detailing the price, itinerary and other content in addition to offering snapshots and video clips of the guide or the tour, enabling climbers to compare and then apply, not to mention make payments, online. Almost dying upon mountain-climbing in Bolivia The two Japanese, Takashi Sato and Yuji Gakuji founded Berguide in summer of 2015 in Berlin. Both men are 26 years old. The idea of Berguide was born out of the dangerous experience Sato had some two years ago. A mountain climber himself, Sato decided to go climbing in Bolivia. Although an English-speaking private guide was hired, his health suffered tremendously during the ascent due to altitude sickness. Though he asked to descend the guide decided to place priority on the other tour participants’ pace, making it impossible to head down. Fortunately…

berguide_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

A platform linking mountain climbers and guides has been born. Two Japanese based in Berlin has founded Berguide.

Berguide is a platform which matches climbers with local guided tours. At present it is only offered for tours of Mt. Kilimanjaro, offering people wishing to ascend the Tanzanian mountain tours for half a dozen possible climbing routes. Each tour has a web page detailing the price, itinerary and other content in addition to offering snapshots and video clips of the guide or the tour, enabling climbers to compare and then apply, not to mention make payments, online.

Almost dying upon mountain-climbing in Bolivia

The two Japanese, Takashi Sato and Yuji Gakuji founded Berguide in summer of 2015 in Berlin. Both men are 26 years old.

The idea of Berguide was born out of the dangerous experience Sato had some two years ago. A mountain climber himself, Sato decided to go climbing in Bolivia. Although an English-speaking private guide was hired, his health suffered tremendously during the ascent due to altitude sickness. Though he asked to descend the guide decided to place priority on the other tour participants’ pace, making it impossible to head down.

Fortunately at 5500 meters’ altitude the other participants noticed how ill Sato was and convinced the guide to cut short the trip and head downhill. By then Sato was facing a life-threatening situation. After the tour, Sato was shown the notes taken by the other climbers; they all had negative views concerning the guide. In hindsight, Sato thought that:

If only I had been able to see such reviews about the guide by participants, I would never have selected this guide’s tour.

Sato found out the hard way how such information regarding guides for mountain climbing tours were not open generally and not easily accessible.

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Berguide currently provides tour information concerning the six ascent routes available for Mt. Kilimanjaro

Quit Adidas to launch a startup in Berlin

There was a need to provide as much information and choice to mountain climbers by opening up the information on guides and tour content. Sato thus decided two years after his Bolivian experience to build his own platform to make such information available publicly.

After graduation from a Japanese university, Sato went to Adidas headquarters in Nuremberg, Germany, where he became the first Japanese to be selected in the corporate officer training program, working in the global strategy team. He obviously had an “elite career” promised ahead at the company, but he decided to abandon that route in favor of establishing Berguide.

His reasoning was that I had kept this idea of ‘a service like this is a must’ in my mind from 2 years ago, but I saw no one else moving to set up such a service.”

He said:

I began to study programming on my own and felt that I could offer such a service.

Upon leaving Nuremberg he decided to set up base in Berlin because not only is it a location conducive to foreigners but also in recent years has been a hot spot for startups.

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Berguide co-founders Takashi Sato (left) and Yuji Gakushi (right)

In the beginning Sato was thinking of going alone, but his endeavor was joined by another Japanese person. This was Yuji Gakushi who has been Sato’s friend since middle school; Gakushi is now an engineer. Skilled as a software handler since school days and experienced with work at an IT startup, Gakushi decided to respond to request for advice about technical problems when Sato was preparing his platform’s prototype. As the two friends conferred late into the night, Gakushi himself became interested in the project.

Upon returning to Tokyo from Germany, Sato invited Gakushi for a drink. Then over drinks he said, “I’ll give you this – can you come along to Berlin with me?” and presented a piece of paper written with a ballpoint pen that said “50% of my company’s shares”… Gakushi thus joined Berguide and moved to Berlin about a month later.

Launch at Kilimanjaro

Last September the two pals rented an apartment in Berlin to prepare for the launch. They targeted Tanzania as the launch place, with the aim of attracting the service’s first users from among the climbers and the guides engrossed by Africa’s tallest mountain. Since the two men had no connection in Tanzania, they prepared meticulously before going there.

First they contacted the head of the 2000-guide strong Kilimanjaro Guide Association in Berlin to explain Berguide’s business content. They also emailed local Tanzanian tour companies with details about the service, to see what kind of response they would get. The response even before going to Africa was positive, such as those saying “would definitely like to use such a service if one exists.”

The sojourn in Tanzania was limited, a little under 3 months. The two men could not afford to even waste a day, so they had made preparations to the fullest extent possible. As a result, they were able to move effectively upon arrival in Tanzania. Thus, they were able to present their services in front of some 300 people at a specially-convened main session of the Kilimanjaro Guide Association.

They could also visit the local guides who had been contacted via email from Berlin. Additionally, one introduction to another from local tour companies led to a wide network being built. There were more than a few occasions where tour guides who found out of Berguide’s existence even visited the hotel the two were staying at.

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Over 300 guides attended Berguide explanation session in Tanzania

“Making it possible to see what the situation is for guides”

What is it with Berguide’s service content that attracts so many people?

Sato notes:

There are many tours of Mt. Kilimanjaro available, with overseas agents making reservations and taking a hefty margin for these.

When individual climbers search for tour information over the Internet, they oftentimes end up at sites from the U.S., UK and Canada where SEO (search engine optimization) measures have been adopted that look attractive on the surface; yet these sites crowd out local guides’ sites.

Although Berguide does take a success fee upon matching between the tour companies and climbers being completed, it costs less than going through agents and thus help the guides to be paid more. Furthermore, Berguide provides a system where an evaluation of local guides can be found when choosing a tour, with “peer review” by climbers is made possible to provide guides with direct feedback of participants, which may be reflected on future expeditions.

Such merits have led some 30 local tour companies to register with Berguide. According to Sato, because only nationally-authorized tour companies can offer guide services in Tanzania, it is not possible to match freelance individuals as guides. Should it become possible for individual guides to become authorized by the government such matching service for individual guides and climbers will also be offered. As for the climbers, the merit is high since not only can tours be reserved at lower prices but they can fathom the information concerning the guide and the tour.

Sato explains:

Currently it is possible to reserve a tour but details such as who will be the guide are not availed. I always thought this haphazard method of finding out who will be climbing with me was not a happy thing and so wanted some way to make such information publicly accessible.

He wanted to make it possible to at least see what kind of situation the mountain guides are in by using moving pictures and audio, without having to meet them directly. This makes sense since for a trek up Kilimanjaro-class peaks means a tour taking up about a week. Knowing who will guide you offers an increased feeling of security beforehand.

Although for now the guide-matching service is available only for Mt. Kilimanjaro, the platform plans to expand the selection of tours to other famous mountains around the globe. There are platforms focused on mountain climbing such as summitpost.org without functions like making reservations or searching for guides/tours while a Japanese community site Yama Reco covers only mountains in Japan.

Berguide’s challenge has only just begun. However, the potential of changing the landscape for tour guides, mountain climbers and the industry overall looms big.

Translated by “Tex” Pomeroy
Edited by Masaru Ikeda

Japan’s influencer marketing startup Tagpic secures series A from Nissay Capital, others

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based influencer marketing startup Tagpic announced in December that it has fundraised an undisclosed sum in a series A round from Nissay Capital and several angel investors including Shigeru Urushibara, the CEO of Tokyo-based consulting firm / cloud solution provider ULS Group (TSE:3798). Nissay Capital is the investment arm of a Japan’s leading insurance company. The funds were paid on December 25th but the other details, including the amount of money raised or the percentage of issued shares, haven’t been disclosed. In the meantime, the company announced the addition of Shuichi Takenaga, CEO of Aucfun (TSE:3674) and a specialist in big data, as an outside adviser. Founded in September 2015, Tagpic has been offering influencer marketing targeting 8.1 million Instagram monthly active users in Japan using famous personalities (so-called Instagrammers), such as amateur models, TV personalities and artists. Its main business is casting, introduces and mediates Instagrammers who match the marketing measures requested by companies. Tagpic has casted about 670 Instagrammers until now. According to CEO Ayumi Yasuoka, most of them are amateur models. Those networking Instagrammers are followed by a total of 10.8 million people. They can make use of their influence for…

tagpic_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based influencer marketing startup Tagpic announced in December that it has fundraised an undisclosed sum in a series A round from Nissay Capital and several angel investors including Shigeru Urushibara, the CEO of Tokyo-based consulting firm / cloud solution provider ULS Group (TSE:3798). Nissay Capital is the investment arm of a Japan’s leading insurance company.

The funds were paid on December 25th but the other details, including the amount of money raised or the percentage of issued shares, haven’t been disclosed. In the meantime, the company announced the addition of Shuichi Takenaga, CEO of Aucfun (TSE:3674) and a specialist in big data, as an outside adviser.

Founded in September 2015, Tagpic has been offering influencer marketing targeting 8.1 million Instagram monthly active users in Japan using famous personalities (so-called Instagrammers), such as amateur models, TV personalities and artists.

Its main business is casting, introduces and mediates Instagrammers who match the marketing measures requested by companies. Tagpic has casted about 670 Instagrammers until now. According to CEO Ayumi Yasuoka, most of them are amateur models.

Those networking Instagrammers are followed by a total of 10.8 million people. They can make use of their influence for promoting brands. In addition, Yasuoka has worked in the apparel industry in addition to being an amateur model and an Instagrammer. She says that this experience helps her now when she does the casting.

Since the launch back in September, we’ve been working with about 30 ad agencies. We mainly use Line for communicating with Instagrammers. Because it is easy for them to communicate through Line, and there’s a knack in creating relationships with them.

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Tagpic CEO Ayumi Yasuoka

On the other hand, they will end up being a simple small casting agency by continuing to work with this analog method. Therefore they are thinking of making a database of Instagrammers.

She continued:

Because people don’t possess much information on amateur model Instagrammers, we are developing a database called Caspic (spelling not confirmed), dedicated to casting Instagrammers. We still haven’t upgraded all the information, such as who has big eyes or who plays sports. This data is mainly used inside our company. Yet we are thinking of releasing it to other agencies later on.

After upgrading the information on the Caspic, the company can continue casting amateur models even if there are problems on the Instagram platform or changes of rules, for example. She expects it will also reduce dependence on the platform to a minimum.

Translated by Mariko Kobayashi via Mother First
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy and Masaru Ikeda

Japan’s Planet Table secures $850K funding deal to boost food distribution platform

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Planet Table, the Japanese foodtech startup behind online food ordering platform leveraging big data, announced on Friday that in December it had fundraised 100 million yen (about $850,000) in a series A round from three Japanese companies including CyberAgent Ventures and Saison Ventures (investment arm of Credit Saison). Financial details, such as equity ratio, have not been disclosed. Planet Table says the funds will be used to strengthen human resources for sales and system development of Send, the company’s online food ordering and distribution platform. The Send platform provides a tiny network connecting farmers producing high quality foods with high-end restaurants. Launched as an online marketplace in August 2015, it has been serving about 200 food producers and buyers. What makes them unique is that they have their own logistics network as well as the online platform. See also: Planet Table connects farmers and restaurant chefs online to reduce food loss in Japan CEO Shin Kikuchi said of their startup: We’ve been primarily collecting information in the food production and restaurant business. The Send platform is not only a profit-making business but also a proof-of-concept project for us. We believe that attracting buyers…

send_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Planet Table, the Japanese foodtech startup behind online food ordering platform leveraging big data, announced on Friday that in December it had fundraised 100 million yen (about $850,000) in a series A round from three Japanese companies including CyberAgent Ventures and Saison Ventures (investment arm of Credit Saison). Financial details, such as equity ratio, have not been disclosed. Planet Table says the funds will be used to strengthen human resources for sales and system development of Send, the company’s online food ordering and distribution platform.

The Send platform provides a tiny network connecting farmers producing high quality foods with high-end restaurants. Launched as an online marketplace in August 2015, it has been serving about 200 food producers and buyers. What makes them unique is that they have their own logistics network as well as the online platform.

See also:

fridges-at-planet-table
Fridges in the Planet Table office

CEO Shin Kikuchi said of their startup:

We’ve been primarily collecting information in the food production and restaurant business. The Send platform is not only a profit-making business but also a proof-of-concept project for us. We believe that attracting buyers and sellers is more important than scaling the business. The platform is in the form of a marketplace, but I think it’s important to provide users with peace of mind and good experiences to find something they can’t find anywhere else rather than allowing them to sell and buy anything at all.

A user base of several hundred companies is not a huge one in terms of an online marketplace. However, users will definitely come to such a marketplace to buy food that is high quality and unique. As a result, they say that the Send platform business is steadily growing.

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Refrigerated vegetables to ship to restaurants

However, business scaling is critical for every startup, so they will need a much larger workforce to serve more customers, even to just cover the Tokyo metropolitan area. Hence, as a future expansion plan, Kikuchi said that they aim to form a network of partnering companies to expand logistics networks to some regions.

Kikuchi said:

We have been doing the service on a hands-on basis but will gradually shift to a platform-based business model. Customer support will be more important for us to assure quality and handle problems. In that process, I think logistics will also go to the cloud. However, human resources providing high-quality logistics services had not been addressed.

In other words, by integrating information on supply and demand from food producers and restaurants through the platform, such as their preference or quality of food products, it will easily allow users to understand when, where, who requires or produces what kind of food products. This is how the platform will help connect fragmented demand and supply.

They are doing what big retail distributors are doing with point-of-sale systems – but in a more conscientious way in a fragmented market. We will report on when they will announce a full-scale launch of the Send platform.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by Kurt Hanson