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Japan’s Code Republic accelerator debuts 4 startups at Winter 2018 Demo Day

Masaru Ikeda 2019.01.06

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Code Republic, the startup accelerator jointly operated by YJ Capital and East Ventures, hosted the Demo Day of its fifth batch and four teams took the stage. The accelerator claims the total number of its portfolio startups has reached 20, including the fifth batch, and of those nine have succeeded in raising funds in their next pre-series A round. Through its three-month long program launched back in April of 2016, the accelerator has been offering opportunities for its participating entrepreneurs, such as dinner meetings with prominent entrepreneurs, undergo mentoring, and a free use of the Yahoo Japan coworking space Lodge. Additionally, Code Republic invests 7 million yen (about $65K US) in exxhange for acquiring a 7% equity stake in each startup under a 100 million yen (about $925K) post-money valuation. Below are descriptions of the four teams who pitched for the Demo Day of the fifth batch. Each of them are seeking funds for the next round. Although none of the teams are stealth, some of them have yet to launch their services, so they intentionally avoided detailed descriptions of their content. Check by Spur More than 50% of women regardless of age…

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Code Republic, the startup accelerator jointly operated by YJ Capital and East Ventures, hosted the Demo Day of its fifth batch and four teams took the stage. The accelerator claims the total number of its portfolio startups has reached 20, including the fifth batch, and of those nine have succeeded in raising funds in their next pre-series A round.

Through its three-month long program launched back in April of 2016, the accelerator has been offering opportunities for its participating entrepreneurs, such as dinner meetings with prominent entrepreneurs, undergo mentoring, and a free use of the Yahoo Japan coworking space Lodge. Additionally, Code Republic invests 7 million yen (about $65K US) in exxhange for acquiring a 7% equity stake in each startup under a 100 million yen (about $925K) post-money valuation.

Below are descriptions of the four teams who pitched for the Demo Day of the fifth batch. Each of them are seeking funds for the next round. Although none of the teams are stealth, some of them have yet to launch their services, so they intentionally avoided detailed descriptions of their content.

Check by Spur

More than 50% of women regardless of age have worries regarding the beauty products they use, such as cosmetic and skincare products not agreeing with their skin, and around 70% of people feel they have sensitive skin. There are word-of-mouth websites specializing in skincare such as Hwahae in Korea and SkinDeep in the US, but Spur feels there is no website in Japan equivalent to those. This is why the company came up with the Check review website.

One of the characteristics of the platfom is that users can search for information by skin trouble, and with just a glance see whether the given skin product has ingredients that cause allergies or not. The company also analyzes characteristics each time the user posts information and can provide information more suitable for that person as the number of postings increases. Check is looking to become a site similar to HairLabo (previously known as HageLabo), in that it is not easily influenced by advertisers and it does not depend on product and dermatological affiliates.

Meily by Meily

Korea comes to mind when speaking of cosmetic surgery, but in Japan the number of cosmetic surgeries exceeds 1.9 million per year which is larger than that of Korea. However, despite the size of the market, there are no means for sharing information like cosmetic review websites, and there are cases of skewed information between service providers and recipients. On blogs there are many instances where clinic names are written using ambiguous characters, and it is difficult to find them even with the help of search engines.

Meily is a social network platform focused on beauty care. It offers a way to search for information as well as Q&A between those who have tried services before and people currently visiting clinics with people considering consultation in the future. Additional functions include case lists of cosmetic dermatology, cosmetic surgery, and aesthetic dentistry clinics while users can compare the provided services. The company has released the app for iOS and Android, and is planning to develop a web app in the future.

Foriio by 1ne Studio

Foriio helps creators match with companies that are looking to order products from creators. For companies seeking creators, there is a limit to their reach, while on the other hand, some creators do not have access to such companies. As a result, work becomes concentrated on a select few creators, and there is an imbalance of opportunity in that work does not come to creators who are buried even though they are capable.

Foriio makes it easy for creators to appeal to companies by simply uploading files to their portfolio where they are converted to an appropriate file format and organized and displayed on the web. Users can change the portfolio to display according to where they are proposing, and for work co-produced by multiple creators, they can also credit each assigned parts. The plan is to optimize human resource matching by visualizing skills.

Winks by Laetia

Winks is a virtual talent agency for China. In Japan, the number of virtual talent increased from 100 people last year to about 5,000 this year. Meanwhile, according to Laetia, the company behind the platform, there are currently only about 200 virtual talent in China, but it will increase rapidly in the next six months.

Currently, Winks sponsors 11 virtual talents for China. With the concept of Japanese “Moe” characters at its core combined with localization by members in China the company is aiming for the top position in China in this field.

Translated by Amanda Imasaka
Edited by Masaru Ikeda

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Japan’s web access analysis startup User Local raises $2.1 million

Takeshi Hirano 2015.05.25

This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese. Tokyo-based User Local, the Japanese startup that provides big data analysis for website owners, announced today that it has fundraised 260 million yen ($2 million) from YJ Capital and East Ventures. YJ Capital is the investment arm of Yahoo Japan. Use Local will use the funds to enhance its backend infrastructure as well as develop new analysis tools targeting vertical markets, such as Media Insight, which is focused on media sites and was launched on 17 April. Since its launch in 2007 by former Rakuten engineer Masao Ito, User Local has developed a number of web analytics tools including Nakanohito, Ugokuhito, User Insight, and Social Insight. More than 700 companies in Japan have adopted their analytics tools, while freemium tools like Nakanohito and Ugokuhito have served more than 250,000 websites nationwide. As a result, company analyzes more than 7 billion page views every month. Ito said the company developed Media Insight because he has been receiving many requests from users, especially from the media industry, that they want to obtain not only traffic analysis for their websites but also involve social media and viral media traffic, with a statistical…

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

Tokyo-based User Local, the Japanese startup that provides big data analysis for website owners, announced today that it has fundraised 260 million yen ($2 million) from YJ Capital and East Ventures. YJ Capital is the investment arm of Yahoo Japan. Use Local will use the funds to enhance its backend infrastructure as well as develop new analysis tools targeting vertical markets, such as Media Insight, which is focused on media sites and was launched on 17 April.

Since its launch in 2007 by former Rakuten engineer Masao Ito, User Local has developed a number of web analytics tools including Nakanohito, Ugokuhito, User Insight, and Social Insight. More than 700 companies in Japan have adopted their analytics tools, while freemium tools like Nakanohito and Ugokuhito have served more than 250,000 websites nationwide. As a result, company analyzes more than 7 billion page views every month.

Ito said the company developed Media Insight because he has been receiving many requests from users, especially from the media industry, that they want to obtain not only traffic analysis for their websites but also involve social media and viral media traffic, with a statistical comparison between their own websites and their competitors’ sites.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by Kurt Hanson

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Japan’s online laundry service Lenet raises $3.4 million from YJ Capital

Takeshi Hirano 2015.02.10

This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese. WhitePlus is a Japanese startup offering an online laundry service called Lenet. The company announced today it has raised 408 million yen (about $3.4 million) from YJ Capital, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan. See also: Japan’s online laundry service, Lenet, is growing fast WhitePlus was founded in 2009 and subsequently raised 300 million yen (about $3 million) from Jafco in August 2013. The company was spotlighted by a TV commercial campaign starring popular Japanese TV personality Shinobu Sakagami, and the film on YouTube has been played over a million times over the first three days since uploading. We’re told that their membership number was around 40,000 in January 2014, creeping up on the 100,000 milestone as of November. WhitePlus CEO Takayuki Inoshita said they are working with 10 partnered laundry factories. Several persons out of the entire 40-person team are managing the quality of laundry services. The company will use the funds to improve services and hire new people. Translated by Masaru Ikeda Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

ryosuke-saito-takayuki-inoshita — R to L: White Plus CEO Takayuki Inoshita, managing director Ryosuke Saito

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

WhitePlus is a Japanese startup offering an online laundry service called Lenet. The company announced today it has raised 408 million yen (about $3.4 million) from YJ Capital, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan.

See also:

Japan’s online laundry service, Lenet, is growing fast

WhitePlus was founded in 2009 and subsequently raised 300 million yen (about $3 million) from Jafco in August 2013. The company was spotlighted by a TV commercial campaign starring popular Japanese TV personality Shinobu Sakagami, and the film on YouTube has been played over a million times over the first three days since uploading. We’re told that their membership number was around 40,000 in January 2014, creeping up on the 100,000 milestone as of November.

WhitePlus CEO Takayuki Inoshita said they are working with 10 partnered laundry factories. Several persons out of the entire 40-person team are managing the quality of laundry services. The company will use the funds to improve services and hire new people.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

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Tokyo-based advertising startup FreakOut raises $5.3M from Yahoo Japan

Masaru Ikeda 2013.03.07

FreakOut is a Tokyo-based startup developing a smartphone advertising platform for real-time bidding (RTB). Today it announced that it has raised 500 million yen (approximately $5.3 million) in series B funding from YJ Capital, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689). FreakOut was launched in 2010 by Yuzuru Honda who previously launched a content-matching ad platform called Brainer, which was subsequently sold to Yahoo Japan in 2008. The startup has been delivering its white-label platform to more than 3,000 advertisers through 90 agencies in Japan and the US. With this new funding, the startup expects to intensify operations at its US subsidiary, FreakOut International Inc., which was launched in New York last April. Prior to this fundraising, the startup raised 350 million yen ($3.7 million) from two Japanese VC firms last year. TechCrunch Japan reports that the current value of the company is about 10.3 billion yen ($110 million).

FreakOut is a Tokyo-based startup developing a smartphone advertising platform for real-time bidding (RTB). Today it announced that it has raised 500 million yen (approximately $5.3 million) in series B funding from YJ Capital, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689).

FreakOut was launched in 2010 by Yuzuru Honda who previously launched a content-matching ad platform called Brainer, which was subsequently sold to Yahoo Japan in 2008. The startup has been delivering its white-label platform to more than 3,000 advertisers through 90 agencies in Japan and the US. With this new funding, the startup expects to intensify operations at its US subsidiary, FreakOut International Inc., which was launched in New York last April.

Prior to this fundraising, the startup raised 350 million yen ($3.7 million) from two Japanese VC firms last year. TechCrunch Japan reports that the current value of the company is about 10.3 billion yen ($110 million).

news

Tokyo Otaku Mode raises additional funds from three VC firms

Masaru Ikeda 2013.02.13

Tokyo Otaku Mode (TOM), a new media startup focusing on Japanese geek culture, announced today it has raised funds from three VC firms, including YJ Capital (the investment arm of Yahoo Japan), Itochu Technology Ventures, and DG Incubation (of Digital Garage). Financial details were not disclosed. Prior to this fundraising, the startup raised more than $500,000 from 500 Startups and several notable angel investors in Japan and the US. TOM was founded in 2011 in Tokyo (registered in Delaware), and has acquired more than 10 million ‘likes’ on its Facebook fan page since then, with some posts getting more than 100,000 ‘likes’. The company is also noted for having ex-Apple iAd chief Andy Miller as an advisor, which should certainly help as it dips its toes into mobile. TOM recently introduced a smartphone app called Otaku Camera that allows you to turn your snapshots into fun manga-style pictures. The startup is currently preparing to get into e-commerce as well, which should be a strong monetization channel for them. Given their enthusiastic fan base, it’s likely that same audience would purchase limited-production items such as the very geeky products often featured on the site. Earlier in the month we did a…

Tokyo Otaku Mode (TOM), a new media startup focusing on Japanese geek culture, announced today it has raised funds from three VC firms, including YJ Capital (the investment arm of Yahoo Japan), Itochu Technology Ventures, and DG Incubation (of Digital Garage). Financial details were not disclosed. Prior to this fundraising, the startup raised more than $500,000 from 500 Startups and several notable angel investors in Japan and the US.

TOM was founded in 2011 in Tokyo (registered in Delaware), and has acquired more than 10 million ‘likes’ on its Facebook fan page since then, with some posts getting more than 100,000 ‘likes’. The company is also noted for having ex-Apple iAd chief Andy Miller as an advisor, which should certainly help as it dips its toes into mobile. TOM recently introduced a smartphone app called Otaku Camera that allows you to turn your snapshots into fun manga-style pictures.

The startup is currently preparing to get into e-commerce as well, which should be a strong monetization channel for them. Given their enthusiastic fan base, it’s likely that same audience would purchase limited-production items such as the very geeky products often featured on the site.

Earlier in the month we did a feature on Tokyo Otaku Mode, and you can read even more about their story in that article.

YJ Capital