On February 7th, an Osaka-based startup pitch event called Shoot took place. Nine startups pitched in total, and perhaps the most remarkable one was Mimimiru, presenting a wearable device designed for the blind and visually impaired. Mimimiru analyzes image data and lets users know what’s in that image by reading information aloud.
Tomoyuki Hisada is a software engineer and the CEO of Another Brain, the startup behind this device. He has been considering how he could support a visually impaired friend of his through IT. Observing a rising trend in wearable devices like Google Glass, he came up with the idea for Mimimiru. He tells us:
When I saw wearable devices, I thought this could be a tool for disabled people. If I could inform blind and visually impaired people about what they see in front of them, their everyday lives could be much improved.
Technology for reading image data aloud is still under development, and it is expected that it will be a few years before it can be really put to use. So Hisada sought and found another solution by turning to crowdsourcing and social media. He explains:
A user takes pictures with a wearable device and post the image(s) to Twitter. And his followers can then reply and tell him information about the picture, which the device will then read aloud. It’s essentially five-second volunteer work that can really help the visually impaired.
He’s receiving support from a volunteer group on Twitter, and he hopes to develop a system by utilizing the activity of social welfare corporations and NPOs who create lists of visually impaired Twitter users and blocks mischievous users. They could also gain support from corporations as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
We’d like to keep our eyes on Mimimiru, one of many interesting wearable tech startups here in Japan.
The last time I met up with Tokyo-based hardware company Cerevo, it was back in 2012 when they were gearing up to release their LiveShell Pro, an affordable hardware solution that enables just about anyone to broadcast live video to the web. That very niche product has been the company’s bread and butter up until now, and I was curious to find out what Cerevo’s CEO Takuma Iwasa has been busy these days. Turns out, Cerevo has been up to quite a lot actually. In addition to the company’s futuristic internet-enabled power strip that is soon going on sale, the company plans to release a completely new connected video switcher next month called LiveWedge. It’s another connected hardware device for Cerevo, with great potential to really make an impact for video producers, priced at just $1000. Their HD video switcher supports four cameras (HDMI connection), integrating with a handy (free) iPad app that lets users easily control what video is displayed. Users can even add transitions (such as dissolves, wipes, or fade to black) or even display picture-in-picture using a simple drag and drop motion. Iwasa-san gave me a brief demo, and I was really surprised by how easy it…
The last time I met up with Tokyo-based hardware company Cerevo, it was back in 2012 when they were gearing up to release their LiveShell Pro, an affordable hardware solution that enables just about anyone to broadcast live video to the web. That very niche product has been the company’s bread and butter up until now, and I was curious to find out what Cerevo’s CEO Takuma Iwasa has been busy these days.
Turns out, Cerevo has been up to quite a lot actually. In addition to the company’s futuristic internet-enabled power strip that is soon going on sale, the company plans to release a completely new connected video switcher next month called LiveWedge. It’s another connected hardware device for Cerevo, with great potential to really make an impact for video producers, priced at just $1000.
Their HD video switcher supports four cameras (HDMI connection), integrating with a handy (free) iPad app that lets users easily control what video is displayed. Users can even add transitions (such as dissolves, wipes, or fade to black) or even display picture-in-picture using a simple drag and drop motion. Iwasa-san gave me a brief demo, and I was really surprised by how easy it was to control.
Iwasa showing LiveWedge’s iPad app
And as you might guess from their previous LiveShell product, it lets you livestream video to the internet as well [1].
LiveWedge also features a SD card, which you can use to record you output video (1080/30p), or even store video and pictures that can be used as input.
Iwasa explains that currently video switching solutions typically are big and heavy, often carried around in a suitcase. In contrast, their LiveWedge could easily fit in a laptop case or a purse. He points out that while they were selling their LiveShell Pro, there were a lot of customers were asking them to build a video switcher. So they already have a willing base of customers in place that will be certain to buy.
Cerevo currently has a headcount of just 13 people, and its office is a tiny third floor space packed to the ceiling with electronics components, instructional books, and I think there’s a box of oranges in there somewhere too. But they’re a global hardware manufacturer that appears to be doing well by identifying a narrow but important demand for hardware. In a somewhat unlikely metaphor, Iwasa likened their hardware strategy to that of a small batch whisky maker:
Small batch whisky and bourbon have really enthusiastic fans. Similarly, we are making a niche product, but we have a tight relationship with our fans all over the world. Our product [strategy] is very different than Panasonic or Sony, which is to find a market for a billion dollar product. But our strategy is to make a popular niche product, and that’s very possible.
He pointed out that software makers – in contrast – really have a big challenge these days, and if (for example) he wanted to make a recruiting app for India, there would be lots of competition already in that space. In contrast, their LiveShell Pro video streaming device only has one real competitor globally [2].
If you’re in Austin, they’ll have it on display at the SXSW next week, so be sure to pay them a visit. We really look forward to seeing how LiveWedge is received once it’s released.
LiveWedge rear view
Supports Ustream, YouTube Live, or your own servers. ↩
This would be Teledek in Canada, says Iwasa. Their target market is more high end serving TV stations, and their hardware is priced around $1500 or $2000 dollars. LiveShell Pro costs only about $500. ↩
See the original article in Japanese SmartDrive, a Japanese startup developing automobile hardware and providing big-data analytics, announced on February 18th that it has allocated shares to ANRI, with the fundraising amount expected to be in somewhere in the tens of millions yen (or a few hundreds thousands dollars). According to the CEO Retsu Kitagawa, the startup will strengthen its developer team (with iOS engineers in particular) with these funds. I confess, it’s actually a little difficult to write about this company as they are currently in stealth mode. Most information about the product is not disclosed. But I can’t help but get excited about what I’ve learned so far. SmartDrive can be said to be a player in the ‘Internet of Things’ space. When thinking about that sector, two things come to mind: big data and context. I’d like to convey SmartDrive’s vision by focusing on these two. Big data in transportation SmartDrive’s product is a hybrid system that makes use of both iOS and a terminal device in a car. Various data acquired through the terminal (such as the car’s speed and direction) are designed to be shown in the iOS app, in part to help to make…
SmartDrive, a Japanese startup developing automobile hardware and providing big-data analytics, announced on February 18th that it has allocated shares to ANRI, with the fundraising amount expected to be in somewhere in the tens of millions yen (or a few hundreds thousands dollars). According to the CEO Retsu Kitagawa, the startup will strengthen its developer team (with iOS engineers in particular) with these funds.
I confess, it’s actually a little difficult to write about this company as they are currently in stealth mode. Most information about the product is not disclosed. But I can’t help but get excited about what I’ve learned so far.
SmartDrive can be said to be a player in the ‘Internet of Things’ space. When thinking about that sector, two things come to mind: big data and context. I’d like to convey SmartDrive’s vision by focusing on these two.
Big data in transportation
SmartDrive’s product is a hybrid system that makes use of both iOS and a terminal device in a car. Various data acquired through the terminal (such as the car’s speed and direction) are designed to be shown in the iOS app, in part to help to make fuel consumption more efficient. Kitagawa described the product as a sort of upgraded Tesla Motors Dashboard. We’ll see how it looks when it’s release.
When speaking of big data these days, Nest comes to mind, having been recently acquired by Google for $3 billion. What Google wants from that acquisition is obviously not just a thermostat, but also the data produced by individual households. Analyzing that data will help the company understand the overall picture of heating systems. The same sort of idea could be applied to the big data produced by cars.
The CEO Kitagawa is just 24 years old. After he interned at a startup in Japan he left for the USA. He took some lectures at MIT, and a year later, he went to Tokyo University to study science.
I had an interest in consumer electronics, biotech, and transportation. I decided to focus on the latter, and I came up with the idea for this business while studying at university. I adjusted my research plan to be more business oriented.
The context of the big data
SmartDrive’s terminal device is basically just a tool to acquire data. Kitagawa told us that he wants to make cars fully connected to the internet before Google takes over the connected-car market. The important thing, of course, is what they create with the data. Data itself doesn’t have value, but it needs a certain context to be utilized.
One interesting way to use the data would be to use it to address problems in transportation, such as traffic jams. The product can recognize location without GPS by using the other real-time data such as sudden the braking, direction, and rotation of the car. Through this new approach, which differs from existing vehicle information and communications system in Japan, SmartDrive hopes it can stand out. Kitagawa says it might even be possible to make suggestion about insurance services based on the data.
Kitagawa says that in the future, all car windows will be digital monitors, and cars will be sort of like smartphones. There will be thousands of ways to make use of such an interface.
Although the details about SmartDrive are currently secret, Kitagawa told us that he wants to release his product as early as this year.
The business for hardware startups is a lot more difficult than that of web startups because of the challenges involved in mass production. But yet, I think SmartDrive has the potential to show a whole new world to us.
See the original article in Japanese Tokyo-based startup Shiroyagi Corporation recently launched a news curation app called Kamelio. Here in Japan the competition between mobile news apps is heating up lately, and this is just the latest of entry. Similar services include Gunosy, SmartNews, NewsPicks, and Line News. Shiroyagi Corporation was previously chosen to participate in Movida Japan’s accelerator program, on Demo Day pitching their app under the name of Bizlio. Can Kamelio survive this competitive news app landscape in Japan? Let’s take a look at the application. Topics and timelines After login, the app asks you to type a keyword that you are interested in, and then related topics appear as well. When you choose a topic, you’ll see a preview news items around that theme. Topics are based on Wikipedia, and in total the app crawls amounts over 4000 news/media sites. On the preview page, you can follow a topic via the follow button in the upper right. You can keep following topics by typing other keywords or tapping on related topics. Trendy topics will be shown with the red “trending” mark, so you can what’s popular in real time. Another remarkable feature of this app is its…
Tokyo-based startup Shiroyagi Corporation recently launched a news curation app called Kamelio. Here in Japan the competition between mobile news apps is heating up lately, and this is just the latest of entry. Similar services include Gunosy, SmartNews, NewsPicks, and Line News.
Shiroyagi Corporation was previously chosen to participate in Movida Japan’s accelerator program, on Demo Day pitching their app under the name of Bizlio. Can Kamelio survive this competitive news app landscape in Japan? Let’s take a look at the application.
Topics and timelines
After login, the app asks you to type a keyword that you are interested in, and then related topics appear as well. When you choose a topic, you’ll see a preview news items around that theme.
Topics are based on Wikipedia, and in total the app crawls amounts over 4000 news/media sites.
On the preview page, you can follow a topic via the follow button in the upper right. You can keep following topics by typing other keywords or tapping on related topics. Trendy topics will be shown with the red “trending” mark, so you can what’s popular in real time.
Another remarkable feature of this app is its timeline. Each news article has a timeline in the upper right, and when you tap it, other related articles will appear in chronological order.
Serving user interest
The chief scientist at Shiroyagi Corporation, Akira Shibata, tells us that the potential of Kamelio lies in its ability to present what users are unaware of:
We are often unaware of what we are really interested in. With Kamelio, we’d like to help users find information about their interests. If a user likes music, he’ll be reminded when his favorite artist releases a new song. A user can keep up with a topic that interests him even when he doesn’t follow a certain media.
The early pioneer in mobile news curation in Japan is Gunosy, which goes beyond being just a news service. It matches individual users and information, and the company is now running a successful ad network.
Kamelio has the same potential as well. But the startup is behind the other major competitors. No matter how developed their recommendation system or algorithm are, if the app isn’t accepted by enough users, the business can’t move forward.
Stay tuned to this space, because it’s only going to get more interesting!
Japan-based electric motorbike startup, Terra Motors, has been a pretty busy company over the past year, with branches opened in Vietnam, the Philippines, and in India. In addition to those, the company is partnering with dealers all around the world, just last week announcing a big partnership to sell their bikes in Nepal. Ok, admittedly Nepal isn’t the biggest of markets. But when I visited their office earlier this week, Terra Motors’ overseas sales director Koshi Kuwahara told me why it is an ideal market for an electric vehicle company like theirs. He explained: There are several aspects to deciding whether or not to enter a market, whether or not to set up the company or a factory. Yes, there is a big market in China. Yes, there is a big market in Indonesia. But we have to consider the competition, how eager partners are, and we also have to consider the government. In the country’s where we have our own branches, local governments are very eager about electric vehicles. In Nepal, the reason they are so interested in EVs, is because Nepal has the highest petrol price in Asia. From a Western point of view, the decision to go…
Terra Motors showroom in Nepal
Japan-based electric motorbike startup, Terra Motors, has been a pretty busy company over the past year, with branches opened in Vietnam, the Philippines, and in India. In addition to those, the company is partnering with dealers all around the world, just last week announcing a big partnership to sell their bikes in Nepal. Ok, admittedly Nepal isn’t the biggest of markets. But when I visited their office earlier this week, Terra Motors’ overseas sales director Koshi Kuwahara told me why it is an ideal market for an electric vehicle company like theirs. He explained:
There are several aspects to deciding whether or not to enter a market, whether or not to set up the company or a factory. Yes, there is a big market in China. Yes, there is a big market in Indonesia. But we have to consider the competition, how eager partners are, and we also have to consider the government. In the country’s where we have our own branches, local governments are very eager about electric vehicles. In Nepal, the reason they are so interested in EVs, is because Nepal has the highest petrol price in Asia.
From a Western point of view, the decision to go electric is often made with consideration to the environment. But Kuwahara showed me a list of countries, along with corresponding fuel prices and GDP per capita, noting that in places where gas prices are relatively high and GDP relatively low, it really has nothing to do with saving the earth.
It’s all about saving money.
Crowded Terra Motors press conference in Kathmandu
A huge gap in import duties for conventional versus electric bikes means that Terra Motors can sell for about $100 cheaper than their gas-guzzling competition. And they’re very optimistic about their prospects in Nepal, where gas and diesel prices have spiked in recent years [1]. The press conference for their opening in Katmandu attracted about 150 people from most major media, a reflection of that optimism and enthusiasm.
Katmandu is a small city spanning about 15 kilometers edge to edge, says Kuwahara, so a Terra Motors bike, which can get about 45 kilometers from a full charge is more than adequate for getting around. And the city’s notorious air pollution, which is among the worst of all the worlds cities, means that they will be very much welcome by the local government.
The startup is aiming to sell about 1000 bikes in the next year, and has already sold 500 from this new dealership. While most of the market conditions are great for Nepal, it is still a pretty tiny market with about 200,000 motocycles sold per year. But at this early stage for Terra Motors, it’s a perfect place to expand without overextending.
Currently the company’s headcount sits at 27, but they are hiring staff for local offices.
The Japan Advantage
Perhaps the most interesting aspect about Terra Motors, in my view, is how greatly it benefits just from being a Japanese company. Kuwahara explains that they are not the first company to push electric bikes in the markets where they operate, but coming from Japan carries credibility that serves them well. Many of their competitors quickly developed a bad reputation due to poor battery performance or some other quality issue. He adds:
[Those companies] just imported from China and then assembled bikes, and sold them. People were interested in electric motorcycles, but they were not satisfied with that quality. We are the only company manufacturing electric motorcycles from Japan. And people know Japanese cars andproducts are good. If some Japanese company manufactures some electric vehicles, then it must be good.
Even as many of Japan’s electronics giants flounder, the nation’s reputation for quality seemingly endures, with overseas business partners approaching cooperation without reservations. As I have written previously, this is an obstacle that China is still struggling to overcome, and will be burdened with for quite some time still.
Beyond Asia
In addition to its overseas offices, Terra Motors now has dealers in Singapore, Turkey, Mexico, Italy, Egypt, and Nigeria. And Kuwahara himself has been busy trying to expand that list in recent months:
I went to Africa for two months, with stops in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa. I’m a bit baked now. (laughs) My colleague went to South America, Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, where there are many three wheelers. So we are focusing on some other markets beyond Asia where we can sell our three wheelers.
Will we see Terra Motors bikes in the US anytime soon? Kuwahara tells me that America is not such an interesting market for them right now, since the motorcycle market is not so big and restrictions on bikes differ from state to state.
Asia certainly looks to be their primary focus, and with solid progress in India as well. The company was very well received when recently presenting at India’s biggest auto show, Delhi Auto 2014. Like Katmandu, Delhi is plagued with a pollution problem, so the Indian government is especially keen to increase the amount of electric vehicles on the roads, shooting for a 300% increase by the year 2020.
We look forward to watching Terra Motors as it grows outwards. It’s certainly one of the most interesting young Japanese companies out there, one that has wisely adopted an international strategy from the very start.
This according to some figures that Kuwahara presented, showing 2012 gas and diesel prices that are more than double those of a decade ago. Recent media reports reflect this as well. ↩
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Smart Education, a developer of educational mobile apps for kids, announced yesterday that it has raised 550 million yen (approximately $5.4 million) from CyberAgent and Infinity Venture Partners. This follows their previous funding worth 75.3 million yen (approximately $750,000) from Shinsei Corporate Investment secured back in May of last year. CyberAgent also invested in the startup’s series B round back in April of last year. Fujita Fund is an investment initiative by CyberAgent, its name derived from the company’s CEO Susumu Fujita. It’s focused is on mid/late-stage startups in Japan. This contrasts with their investment arm CyberAgent Ventures, focused on early-stage startups all across Asia. Regarding this funding, Smart Education’s CEO Daigo Ikeya explains: When looking at our users, we found characteristics very close to those of Ameba users (CyberAgent’s blog platform). So we thought that partnering with CyberAgent could create a synergistic relationship in the future. But more importantly, this partnership lets us benefit from the advice of CyberAgent. Ikeya previously worked at CA Mobile, a mobile app development arm at CyberAgent. He told us how Fujita got involved in this investment: I think their investment was possible because of Fujita’s decision….
Tokyo-based Smart Education, a developer of educational mobile apps for kids, announced yesterday that it has raised 550 million yen (approximately $5.4 million) from CyberAgent and Infinity Venture Partners. This follows their previous funding worth 75.3 million yen (approximately $750,000) from Shinsei Corporate Investment secured back in May of last year. CyberAgent also invested in the startup’s series B round back in April of last year.
Fujita Fund is an investment initiative by CyberAgent, its name derived from the company’s CEO Susumu Fujita. It’s focused is on mid/late-stage startups in Japan. This contrasts with their investment arm CyberAgent Ventures, focused on early-stage startups all across Asia.
Regarding this funding, Smart Education’s CEO Daigo Ikeya explains:
When looking at our users, we found characteristics very close to those of Ameba users (CyberAgent’s blog platform). So we thought that partnering with CyberAgent could create a synergistic relationship in the future. But more importantly, this partnership lets us benefit from the advice of CyberAgent.
Ikeya previously worked at CA Mobile, a mobile app development arm at CyberAgent. He told us how Fujita got involved in this investment:
I think their investment was possible because of Fujita’s decision. Our business sector is not bad but it can’t make a bunch of money. It may require some time to reach any successful milestone, but he has been encouraging us to keep going, saying that the sector will grow enormously in five to ten years.
Our readers may recall the company has been launching a new app and is working on global expansion. Their apps are showing good numbers in terms of overseas user acquisition. They have surpassed 6.4 million total downloads and will reach 7 million very shortly. The company expects to reach 10 million downloads, with an eventual domestic/international ratio of 50/50.
It has been said that our apps are designed to suit Japanese preferences, and have been not accepted in the overseas markets. But our Gocco brand targets the global audience, and has been seeing good results. If we can keep going at this pace, we may catch up with other developers in this space, such as Sweden’s Toca Boca. Their apps are currently making money through in-app purchases, but they plan to shift it to a monthly, subscription-based system, as they do with their apps targeting the Japanese domestic market, which may contribute to more rapid growth in downloads as well as revenue.
Smart Education is doing more than just developing apps. They are also making an effort to suggest the appropriate usage of apps for infants, based on discussions with high profile people in the educational industry. Ikeya explains:
When you become a parent for the first time, you may not quite know how to take care of your baby, or feel a little uneasy. We are building a resource website for such people, especially for those who are a little confused about what to do.
The company recently announced that their educational app Oyako de Smahon (literally, “smartphone app for parents and kids”) will be adopted at 250 nurseries in Japan. They want to make people use their apps as they would an illustrated book. Ikeya explains:
By sorting out a curriculum focused on digital creation, and giving kids opportunities to learn through picture-drawing apps, we expect to help kids create something by taking advantage of IT skills.
If kids draw and share their pictures, it can break language barriers and may even start interactions with people in different countries. Ikeya adds:
There’s no border for such communication. We expect kids to experience this concept in their childhood, and we would like to help them grow as cosmopolitan-minded people through our business.
Smart Eduction will spend this year creating manuals for their curriculum, followed by the launch of a full-scale service next year.
Shintaro Eguchi
Rick Martin
Takeshi Hirano
Junya Mori
