If you have ever visited Japan, you will know that there’s a vending machine on nearly every street. You may recall that we previously wrote about a futuristic vending machine which uses facial recognition technology to recommend suitable drinks to whoever is standing in front of it. And now just recently we found another interesting use of vending machines from a well known company.
Georgia, is a popular canned coffee brand produced by Coca-Cola Japan. Canned coffee has always been a popular and affordable beverage among Japanese salary men long before Starbucks arrived on the scene. Even now many of them will opt for vending machine coffee instead of neighborhood stores or cafes. With this specific demographic in mind, Georgia came up with a clever promotion that involves vending machines and mobile phones.
Their idea is to turn a relatively boring vending machine into a more neighborly store, doing so in an effort to prompt more purchases. Here’s how it works.
You can download an app to your smartphone, and choose one female manager from a list. By reading the QR code posted on your most frequented vending machine, the app registers that machine as your favorite.
The female manager will send you friendly texts whenever you’re nearby and you can then communicate back and forth with her.
This experience turns otherwise ordinary vending machines into more of a store-like destination that keeps you coming back. The Georgia app is available on both iOS and Android platforms.
You can check out the promotion video below to see how the app can bring some enjoyment to a working man’s life.
See the original article in Japanese In North America, photo curation platforms like Tumblr, Pinterest, and Fancy has achieved dramatic growth in the past few years. Here in Japan we have a similar list concept called ‘Matome’, which roughly translates as ‘collecting information’. Blogs that collect and edit threads from 2channel, Japan’s biggest message board, and Naver Matome, a popular curation platform, are attracting lots of traffic. Such curated media are moving into more verticals recently, focusing on specific themes. Increased use of smartphones seems to be driving this trend as well. Another curation-focused media service that just recently launched is Iemo. It’s an online lifestyle site that specializes in interior decoration and housing. Iemo’s CEO, Mari Murata, is a female serial entrepreneur, previously one of the first hires by Japanese internet giant CyberAgent. The service is very simple. The users can create pages using interior design images from its database of 15,000 pictures. Upon the service’s release, there were about 2000 pages are already listed on the site. I expect that there are many users who check the site with their smartphones during their spare time. Iemo was modeled after US-based Houzz, which attracts around 16 million users per…
In North America, photo curation platforms like Tumblr, Pinterest, and Fancy has achieved dramatic growth in the past few years. Here in Japan we have a similar list concept called ‘Matome’, which roughly translates as ‘collecting information’. Blogs that collect and edit threads from 2channel, Japan’s biggest message board, and Naver Matome, a popular curation platform, are attracting lots of traffic. Such curated media are moving into more verticals recently, focusing on specific themes. Increased use of smartphones seems to be driving this trend as well.
Another curation-focused media service that just recently launched is Iemo. It’s an online lifestyle site that specializes in interior decoration and housing. Iemo’s CEO, Mari Murata, is a female serial entrepreneur, previously one of the first hires by Japanese internet giant CyberAgent.
The service is very simple. The users can create pages using interior design images from its database of 15,000 pictures. Upon the service’s release, there were about 2000 pages are already listed on the site. I expect that there are many users who check the site with their smartphones during their spare time.
Iemo was modeled after US-based Houzz, which attracts around 16 million users per month. Murata said that the images in their database are borrowed from over 20 housing businesses, but users can add their own images as well.
My initial impression of the site was that it was pretty sophisticated, likely due to the founder’s past experiences in startups. Another Japanese competitor in the field, RoomClip reached 100,000 posts last September.
Considering the user shift to smartphones, it might be a good time to launch this kind of photo curation service now. I think we will see more similar media focused on other themes in the near future.
See the original story in Japanese. How much time is needed to launch a function on our smartphone? You will typically need to unlock it with a password or fingerprint, and then tap the screen two or three times. That takes five to 10 seconds at least. But now there’s a wearable device that proposes to cut this time significantly using NFC technology. It is called HALOband, and it was invented by the Shanghai-based startup of the same name. The wrist band is made of silicone and has three NFC chips. Two chips can read patterns of how you touch your smartphone to the band, for example, touch once to chip A, and then twice to chip B. In this way, it provides an alternative to actions like unlocking your phone, instead of the conventional identification methods using a password or fingerprint. You can also set other actions to launch other function, using different patterns. On Kickstarter, the company has already raised $1 million, reaching their first goal, but they’re still trying to raise another $1 million to add new functions. The video below shows you how it works. This would be especially useful for daily joggers and cyclists who…
How much time is needed to launch a function on our smartphone? You will typically need to unlock it with a password or fingerprint, and then tap the screen two or three times. That takes five to 10 seconds at least. But now there’s a wearable device that proposes to cut this time significantly using NFC technology. It is called HALOband, and it was invented by the Shanghai-based startup of the same name.
The wrist band is made of silicone and has three NFC chips. Two chips can read patterns of how you touch your smartphone to the band, for example, touch once to chip A, and then twice to chip B. In this way, it provides an alternative to actions like unlocking your phone, instead of the conventional identification methods using a password or fingerprint. You can also set other actions to launch other function, using different patterns.
On Kickstarter, the company has already raised $1 million, reaching their first goal, but they’re still trying to raise another $1 million to add new functions. The video below shows you how it works. This would be especially useful for daily joggers and cyclists who have difficulty controlling a smartphone when on move.
Recently Google acquired Schaft, a Japanese robotics company that grew out of the University of Tokyo. The company won the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials this weekend in Miami, an event aimed at encouraging engineers across the world to develop disaster relief robots, in response to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. During the competition, robots were tested to measure their motor capabilities in eight different tasks like climbing up-and-down a ladder, removing obstacles and debris, and driving a car. 16 teams competed to advance to the 2014 Finals in an effort to win the $2 million grand prize. The Schaft team took top place, beating out tough competitors like IHMC, Carnegie Mellon University, and MIT. The company was launched by humanoid scientists Yuto Nakahishi and Junichi Urata back in 2012. Prior to its acquisition by Google, it was backed by Tokyo-based startup incubator TomyK [1] and Tsuneishi Partners, the investment arm of a leading shipbuilding company in Japan. TomyK is focused on incubating hardware startups, and was launched by Tomihisa Kamada, the inventor of the Japanese feature phone web browser ‘i-mode‘. ↩
From the Left: Schaft COO Narito Suzuki, CEO Yuto Nakanishi, and the Schaft robot (from DARPA video)
Recently Google acquiredSchaft, a Japanese robotics company that grew out of the University of Tokyo. The company won the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials this weekend in Miami, an event aimed at encouraging engineers across the world to develop disaster relief robots, in response to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
During the competition, robots were tested to measure their motor capabilities in eight different tasks like climbing up-and-down a ladder, removing obstacles and debris, and driving a car. 16 teams competed to advance to the 2014 Finals in an effort to win the $2 million grand prize. The Schaft team took top place, beating out tough competitors like IHMC, Carnegie Mellon University, and MIT.
The company was launched by humanoid scientists Yuto Nakahishi and Junichi Urata back in 2012. Prior to its acquisition by Google, it was backed by Tokyo-based startup incubator TomyK[1] and Tsuneishi Partners, the investment arm of a leading shipbuilding company in Japan.
TomyK is focused on incubating hardware startups, and was launched by Tomihisa Kamada, the inventor of the Japanese feature phone web browser ‘i-mode‘. ↩
See the original story in Japanese. Japanese social illustration service Pixiv recently announced its new e-commerce platform, Booth. It was officially launched last week, opening stores of nine prominent artists to sell their works online. We’d like to take a closer look at it right now. Artists’ works could be things like decorative postcards, hand towels, clear file folders, t-shirts, and smartphone cases (see below). After signing up on the platform, you can receive updates from your favorite artists when have new works available. When you buy an item, your purchase action will be posted on the artist’s wall, which encourages other users following that artist to buy as well [1]. For artists, the platform lets you set a selling price or distribute their items to users for free, for evaluation or promotion purposes. Booth’s ‘Warehouse service’ packages, and ships your products on your behalf. The storage charge is free to keep items up to six months, and the shipping and handling charge is 700 yen (about $7), regardless of where in Japan your recipient is located. The goal is to meet all your e-commerce needs online, letting you concentrate on your creative activities. Their dashboard for artists is smartly…
Japanese social illustration service Pixiv recently announced its new e-commerce platform, Booth. It was officially launched last week, opening stores of nine prominent artists to sell their works online. We’d like to take a closer look at it right now.
Artists’ works could be things like decorative postcards, hand towels, clear file folders, t-shirts, and smartphone cases (see below). After signing up on the platform, you can receive updates from your favorite artists when have new works available. When you buy an item, your purchase action will be posted on the artist’s wall, which encourages other users following that artist to buy as well [1].
For artists, the platform lets you set a selling price or distribute their items to users for free, for evaluation or promotion purposes. Booth’s ‘Warehouse service’ packages, and ships your products on your behalf. The storage charge is free to keep items up to six months, and the shipping and handling charge is 700 yen (about $7), regardless of where in Japan your recipient is located. The goal is to meet all your e-commerce needs online, letting you concentrate on your creative activities.
Their dashboard for artists is smartly designed, and it’s easy to check how much revenue you’ve make on the platform. Because of Pixiv’s huge user community and integration with social media, I think the company will succeed in differentiating from competitors doing similar businesses.
Their business model for the platform resembles that of US-based Society6 and Taiwan-based Fandora Shop. ↩
See the original article in Japanese Early this year, we reported on 14 Japanese startups that provide accounting or financial services. Many of them have launched new services or raised funds this year. The recent news that Hottolink, the company behind Hottoscope, went public on the TSE Mothers market shows that this field is rapidly growing. One of the startups we mentioned in that article, Crowd Cast, was founded in 2011 to develops financial solutions for small businesses, including its cloud-based accounting app, BizNote (iOS／Android). The company recently announced a new app for startups called BizNote Expense, which is to be released next month. If you follow the Japan startup scene, you might wonder how the app is different from alternatives like Freee or Money Forward. This field is no longer a Blue Ocean market, so how can Crowd Cast differentiate from competitors? We spoke with Takashi Hoshikawa, the company’s CEO and founder, about their future strategy. After Hoshikawa worked at Microsoft and Digital Equipment Corporation as a project manager, he enrolled in business school to acquire an MBA in 2009. Since then, he had been considering the idea of starting an accounting service. In the fall of 2011, he…
Early this year, we reported on 14 Japanese startups that provide accounting or financial services. Many of them have launched new services or raised funds this year. The recent news that Hottolink, the company behind Hottoscope, went public on the TSE Mothers market shows that this field is rapidly growing. One of the startups we mentioned in that article, Crowd Cast, was founded in 2011 to develops financial solutions for small businesses, including its cloud-based accounting app, BizNote (iOS／Android). The company recently announced a new app for startups called BizNote Expense, which is to be released next month.
If you follow the Japan startup scene, you might wonder how the app is different from alternatives like Freee or Money Forward. This field is no longer a Blue Ocean market, so how can Crowd Cast differentiate from competitors? We spoke with Takashi Hoshikawa, the company’s CEO and founder, about their future strategy.
CEO Takashi Hoshikawa
After Hoshikawa worked at Microsoft and Digital Equipment Corporation as a project manager, he enrolled in business school to acquire an MBA in 2009. Since then, he had been considering the idea of starting an accounting service. In the fall of 2011, he won first prize at the Yayoi App Contest, operated by Yoyoi, Japan’s largest accounting software company. He succeeded in raising 25 million yen ($250,000) from Yayoi in May of 2013.
In addition to raising funds from Yayoi, Crowd Cast has a business partnership with the company. While Yayoi has 74% market share of accounting software in Japan, Crowd Cast focuses on streamlining the process of entering expenses during the accounting process. Hoshikawa explained:
We developed a smartphone app, BizNote Expense, whose feature is focused on entering expenses. By letting employees enter expenses on their smartphones, BizNote Expense reduces work for those in charge of accounting. In small businesses, this is often the CEO himself. Utilizing the network I built while I was at Microsoft, the app was developed in Europe and has a sophisticated design. Development is almost finished. After minor adjustment of the UI/UX, we plan to release the product in January.
The data entered on the app can be viewed on the BizNote dashboard, used in Yayoi’s package software or on its online cloud-based platform for tax returns. Yayoi and Crowd Cast each have different strengths, and they can both enhance their core competencies.
The unknown market for expenses processing
According to Hoshikawa, in the area of expense processing, there are a number of key players:
For large companies with more than 1000 employees, Concur is the biggest competitor. Initial fee: 2.5 million yen ($25,000), Monthly fee: around 500,000 yen ($5000).
For middle-size companies with 200 to 1000 employees, there are about 10 software companies offering services, including Rakurakuseisan. Average initial fee: 30,000 yen ($300), monthly fee: around 10,000 ($100).
For small companies with less than 200 employees, there are several companies like Expensify and Shoeboxed. Monthly fee: 1000 – 10,000 yen
(Note that the listed fees here are just for a reference. They could differ depending on the conditions.)
Crowd Cast aims to expand its client base among small companies with less than 200 employees. Hoshikawa adds:
For these kinds of companies, few of them have an independent department for accounting. In many cases, the management or workers in the general affairs department take care of accounting. With BizNote Expense, companies can automate everything from processing expenses to collecting to accounting, and as a result, they can save time to focus on more important matters.
The fee for BizNote Expense starts from 390 yen ($4) per month. The smartphone app is intentionally minimal in order to provide a reasonable price for small companies, and to make it easy for workers to use.
I had one simple question as I spoke with Hoshikawa. If the expense processing platform is tied up with Yayoi, why doesn’t Yayoi develop such a platform on its own? Could not such a big company form a project team with experienced engineers, and develop a platform quicker and better?
But developing a smartphone app or establishing a cloud service business model is not really what Yayoi is typically good at. Major companies in this kind of situation can find an advantage to tie up with startups. That is open innovation.
Accounting systems differ drastically across regions because of different accounting standards and tax systems. Yayoi used to be under Intuit, but later broke away in 2003 in a management buyout, and was subsequently acquired by livedoor. One of the reasons that Intuit and Yayoi couldn’t find synergies was the difference of accounting systems between countries.
But expense processing doesn’t differ much by country, so that means BizNote Expense could expand globally with minimum localization efforts. The Crowd Cast website already has both Japanese and English versions.
While Crowd Cast has tied up with Yoyoi in Japan, it could be possible for them to partner with Intuit in the future. As more and more startups operate across borders, this solution by Crowd Cast could help make business much more convenient.
The iOS version of BizNote Expense will be available for download in January, and the Android version is to be released in the first quarter of 2014.
Yukari Mitsuhashi
Takeshi Hirano
Teppei Wai
Masaru Ikeda
Junya Mori
