Osaka-based ‘Yume no Machi SoZo Iinkai‘ (literally meaning ‘committee creating a dream town’) is the company behind Japan’s leading food delivery site Demaecan. It recently announced that it has invested 100 million yen (approximately $983,000) in Tokyo-based Tamecco, a startup that has been developing a customer loyalty app using artificial intelligence technology.
Tamecco has partnered with more than 300 restaurant and retail chains in Japan. Their app helps them establish a solid relationship with customers by leveraging its geographical and social media features.
The company was launched back in 2012 by former investment banker Jonah Oh. They also have Google Japan’s former CEO Koichiro Tsujino on their advisory board.
Based on the original article in Japanese Touchten Games is a Jakarta-based game studio which raised Series B financing from Japan’s CyberAgent Ventures back in November 2013. And the games startup most recently announced that it has completed its Series B round, by raising funds from Japanese animation studio Tms Entertainment, Singapore’s UOB Venture Management, and Indonesian incubator Ideosource. The amount(s) of funds were not disclosed. Early this year, Tms Entertainment invested in Blina, an Indonesian E-commerce site for baby products. We hope to take a more detailed look at Tms’s involvement with Indonesian startups in the near future. Touchten, a startup that just celebrated its fifth year in business this March, is now focusing on developing its online-to-offline Touchten Platform (see above). Incorporating a gamification approach, the launch of this platform actually helped a lot as they were trying to complete their Series B round. On this platform, users can acquire points based on the result of the games they played. Those points can be exchanged for items at partnering retail stores, who then also benefit when those users enter the shops. Touchten Platform will be implemented in a new Touchten game to be released this month for the…
Early this year, Tms Entertainment invested in Blina, an Indonesian E-commerce site for baby products. We hope to take a more detailed look at Tms’s involvement with Indonesian startups in the near future.
Touchten, a startup that just celebrated its fifth year in business this March, is now focusing on developing its online-to-offline Touchten Platform (see above). Incorporating a gamification approach, the launch of this platform actually helped a lot as they were trying to complete their Series B round.
On this platform, users can acquire points based on the result of the games they played. Those points can be exchanged for items at partnering retail stores, who then also benefit when those users enter the shops.
Touchten Platform will be implemented in a new Touchten game to be released this month for the Indonesian market. We understand that the acquired points can be used in some of Indonesia’s biggest convenience stores, certain restaurants, karaoke cafes, or movie theaters. They plan to expand the platform in Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam by the end of this year, and are also now looking for potential partner companies in the Philippines and Malaysia.
A few months back my colleague Junya posted an article (on our Japanese site) about the typical questions that he usually asks entrepreneurs during interviews. So after I recently presented on a similar topic last weekend at a local iOS meet-up here in Tokyo, I thought perhaps I’d share some of the main points here – for Japanese startups and entrepreneurs especially. All my slides can be found here, if you’d like to read the extended version [1]. When it comes to covering technology companies and startups here in Japan, I’m always very surprised (and somewhat disappointed) that Japanese startups don’t reach out to me more often [2]. I usually tell companies not to hesitate in contacting me, even if it’s for just a small update. Even though I might not write about it, I’d still like to know what you’re doing and how you’re doing. For app developers in particular, such updates could be: Your initial app launch A new version with new features, new localization Download milestones A notable partnership A round of fundraising The question that I usually ask myself when deciding whether or not to share a story with readers is “Is this remarkable?” If I’m…
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A few months back my colleague Junya posted an article (on our Japanese site) about the typical questions that he usually asks entrepreneurs during interviews. So after I recently presented on a similar topic last weekend at a local iOS meet-up here in Tokyo, I thought perhaps I’d share some of the main points here – for Japanese startups and entrepreneurs especially. All my slides can be found here, if you’d like to read the extended version [1].
When it comes to covering technology companies and startups here in Japan, I’m always very surprised (and somewhat disappointed) that Japanese startups don’t reach out to me more often [2]. I usually tell companies not to hesitate in contacting me, even if it’s for just a small update. Even though I might not write about it, I’d still like to know what you’re doing and how you’re doing. For app developers in particular, such updates could be:
Your initial app launch
A new version with new features, new localization
Download milestones
A notable partnership
A round of fundraising
The question that I usually ask myself when deciding whether or not to share a story with readers is “Is this remarkable?” If I’m not interested in it, then it’s hard for me to make readers interested. I also need to consider whether it’s a story that has already been covered or not. While many media sites tend to rewrite company press releases or other media reports, that’s something that I’d prefer to avoid in favor of communicating something that hasn’t yet been communicated [3]. We’d like to fill a real need rather than just re-blog.
It’s also important to keep in mind the scope of a tech publication before pitching your story. For example, we tend to target much of our content towards investors, so we will usually ask questions that we anticipate they might have. Before speaking to press, you should be aware of what you are willing to disclose and what you are not. If you disclose something you shouldn’t have, or something your investor would prefer kept secret, that’s your problem – not mine [4].
Startups can also prepare extensive ‘about’ and ‘FAQ’ pages that can answer many journalists’ questions in advance. Your backstory is important, and laying out a timeline of events in your company’s history is helpful. You should also prepare company logos, team photos, maybe an office photo (if your office does not suck), and screenshots (if you are an app developer). It’s always wise to provide high resolution versions of your images, because if you ever want to be covered by a magazine or newspaper, low-rez JPGs aren’t good enough.
Inviting journalists to beta test your app is also something I wish companies did more often, especially here in Japan. I’m not sure if there is any regional difference, but in my own experience it seems like Japanese developers aren’t as accustomed or willing to let writers preview early beta releases. But giving someone time to understand your product better will help ensure that they can better communicate what it’s about, rather than just give a superficial overview from your press release talking points. On top of that, making yourself or your company representatives available for an interview is obviously a big help as well. You don’t necessarily need to be in the same location, because interviews over email or Skype are always easy to arrange.
You can always be your own media
At the risk of making my own role unnecessary, I think startups should also maintain their own blog and social media presences too. Maybe this is obvious, but I don’t see too many companies taking advantage of this as well as they should. Capturing an audience pre-launch via Launchrock or building a newsletter using something like Mailchimp (as we do here) can be helpful in keeping in contact with people interested in your service. Sources can go directly to consumers when it suits them. Line Corporation is a good example of this [5].
For more information that might help when reaching out to press, do check out my slides in full, as it includes lots of links and external resources that you might find helpful.
This particular article/summary is written with many Japanese tech companies and startups in mind. ↩
Of course in some cases this is due to a language gap. But in most cases, I think it’s not. ↩
The redundancy of the tech press these days is absolutely agonizing. ↩
Compared to Western companies, Japanese companies and startups are surprisingly comfortable asking me for changes or adjustments after I publish. Taking information away from a reader after I give it to them is something like taking giving a child a cookie and then snatching it from his hands a moment later. But insofar as I can see, media in Japan often work to please companies more than they do to please their readers. ↩
Although they aren’t the most responsive when you send question their way. ↩
The Puzzle & Dragons X Evangelion collaboration that began in Japan back on February 24 has now extended to global versions of the hit mobile game, including the US. It will likely be a smart tie-up for GungHo Online Entertainment, since the intricate artwork that helped make Puzzle & Dragons such a big hit at home will certainly be appreciated by anime fans abroad. You can read more about the collaboration on the P&D Facebook page.
The Puzzle & Dragons X Evangelion collaboration that began in Japan back on February 24 has now extended to global versions of the hit mobile game, including the US.
It will likely be a smart tie-up for GungHo Online Entertainment, since the intricate artwork that helped make Puzzle & Dragons such a big hit at home will certainly be appreciated by anime fans abroad.
You can read more about the collaboration on the P&DFacebook page.
NTT Docomo recently launched a pet dog-monitoring service called PetFit. It is available for a 25,900 yen fee (approximately $255), which includes a deposit fee for the monitoring device and one-year data transmission charge. By attaching a bluetooth-enabled tag to your dog, the service’s mobile app keeps you updated about how you dog is behaving (is he walking or sleeping, for example). If the device’s base station loses the signal from the tag, the service recognizes he that he is out of range and sends you a notification e-mail to encourage you to find him. You can record history of his past behavior, as well as the atmospheric temperature around him, in the cloud, and even consult a veterinarian using the service. via CNET Japan
NTT Docomo recently launched a pet dog-monitoring service called PetFit. It is available for a 25,900 yen fee (approximately $255), which includes a deposit fee for the monitoring device and one-year data transmission charge.
By attaching a bluetooth-enabled tag to your dog, the service’s mobile app keeps you updated about how you dog is behaving (is he walking or sleeping, for example). If the device’s base station loses the signal from the tag, the service recognizes he that he is out of range and sends you a notification e-mail to encourage you to find him.
You can record history of his past behavior, as well as the atmospheric temperature around him, in the cloud, and even consult a veterinarian using the service.
Here’s a fun UI demo from Japan that takes us a step closer to the kind of interface we saw Tom Cruise use in Minority Report. Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa of the University of Tokyo has developed something called an ‘AIRR Tablet’, which – if I understand correctly – uses a retro-reflective sheet to create a display that seems to be floating in the air. Then by using the high-speed vision technology for which the lab is now rather famous, the system can receive user input such as hand-writing in the air. The exact details are somewhat tricky to grasp (they aren’t the most clear), but the demo video below is rather cool. Coincidentally, this is far from the only writing-in-air technology we have looked at recently (see here and here for more). Fun stuff here in Japan!
Here’s a fun UI demo from Japan that takes us a step closer to the kind of interface we saw Tom Cruise use in Minority Report. Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa of the University of Tokyo has developed something called an ‘AIRR Tablet’, which – if I understand correctly – uses a retro-reflective sheet to create a display that seems to be floating in the air. Then by using the high-speed vision technology for which the lab is now rather famous, the system can receive user input such as hand-writing in the air. The exact details are somewhat tricky to grasp (they aren’t the most clear), but the demo video below is rather cool.
Coincidentally, this is far from the only writing-in-air technology we have looked at recently (see here and here for more). Fun stuff here in Japan!
Masaru Ikeda
Rick Martin
