Tokyo-based Zuu, the startup that operates financial advisor matching platform Zuu Advisors, announced today that it has fundraised 105 million yen (about $1 million) from four angel investors including Japan’s mobile i-mode web service inventor Takeshi Natsuno and listed-company owners.
The company provides a dozen web services including Zoo Advisors Support, a website of marketing tips for brokers and salespersons of wealth management products. Other websites include Japanese property market trend news site Tokyo Premium Real Estate and wealth management-focused portal Zuu Online (US Edition), both are available in English.
The company will use the funds to strengthen their engineering and marketing teams to roll out improvements of their web services.
Zuu was founded in 2013 by Kazumasa Tomita, who previously worked in the wealth management department of Nomura Securities.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based startup Vivit launched an excursion buddy and destination discovery site under the same name last week. The startup participated in the sixth edition of Incubate Camp, an intensive two-day business development program for entrepreneurs organized by Japan’s Incubate Fund. Coinciding with service startup, Vivit announced that it had fundraised about 30 million yen (about $300,000) this spring from Venture United and Incubate Fund . Vivit lists outdoor activities, from rafting and buggy rides to sightseeing hotspots and seasonal events. By integrating with a Facebook account, users can express interest in an activity on the website and share it with friends by clicking on the “I-want-to-go” button. The service highlights activities your friends like, so your friends may also see activities you want to join in. If you or a friend shares the same activity as their preference, a “talk button” will appear onscreen to show the activity, which allows you to interact with him or her and even arrange an itinerary to enable participation together. The website has listed about 150 activities to date, and most of them are day-trip excursions in the Tokyo metropolitan area and its suburbs. They released the service…
Tokyo-based startup Vivit launched an excursion buddy and destination discovery site under the same name last week. The startup participated in the sixth edition of Incubate Camp, an intensive two-day business development program for entrepreneurs organized by Japan’s Incubate Fund. Coinciding with service startup, Vivit announced that it had fundraised about 30 million yen (about $300,000) this spring from Venture United and Incubate Fund .
Vivit lists outdoor activities, from rafting and buggy rides to sightseeing hotspots and seasonal events. By integrating with a Facebook account, users can express interest in an activity on the website and share it with friends by clicking on the “I-want-to-go” button.
The service highlights activities your friends like, so your friends may also see activities you want to join in. If you or a friend shares the same activity as their preference, a “talk button” will appear onscreen to show the activity, which allows you to interact with him or her and even arrange an itinerary to enable participation together.
The website has listed about 150 activities to date, and most of them are day-trip excursions in the Tokyo metropolitan area and its suburbs. They released the service partially to go live prior to their official release at this time, and told that they have acquired more than 10,000 visits from users.
The website lists about 150 activities, and most are day-trip excursions in Tokyo and its suburbs. The service gained more than 10,000 user visits recently, upon “teaser” release prior to official release.
CEO Hisayoshi Mizutani highlighted the service:
For a short-term excursion, you should emphasize with whom one wants to go with rather than where to go. By visualizing and sharing excursion preferences for you and your friends, our service allows you to create more opportunities to hang out, fulfill leisure time, and help connect with more people
One may experience an interesting hotspot or leisure destination but give up because it’s troublesome to find someone to visit together and to arrange plans. However, Vivit enables completion of a set of processes from discovering an activity to arranging an itinerary with someone.
Mizutani outlined his development strategy:
TThe more users we acquire, we will gain more activities they like. Based on this data, we’re developing an algorithm that can recommend someone with similar preferences as you. We are also planning to launch a mobile app and a media site. We aim to acquire 100,000 users by the end of this year, hopefully publishing around 200 to 300 new activities each month.
Vivit’s CEO Hisayoshi Mizutani is pitching at Incubate Camp 6th. (His mentor Satoshi Maruyama from Venture United on the left)
See the original story in Japanese. Japanese UX design firm Goodpatch fundraised 100 million yen (or about $1 million) from DG Incubation, the investment arm of Digital Garage (TSE:4819) in December 2013. Back then the firm was in Akihabara, but two months ago they moved to Shibuya, a major startup hub in Tokyo. Upon visiting the new Goodpatch office, this reporter met a familiar person in addition to the CEO, Naofumi Tsuchiya. It was Boris Friedrich Milkowski, a German who had studied at Keio Media Design (KMD). When he was attending the university, I had been requested by him to join a group focus interview where I offered him my insights about the UI/UX trends for Japanese apps as well as about local startups in Tokyo. He subsequently joined the Goodpatch team for business development to help accelerate the company’s global market expansion. Goodpatch launched rapid prototyping tool Prott as a “closed beta” in March, and their team is finalizing the release of its official version and its iOS app, scheduled to go live soon. CEO Naofumi Tsuchiya aims to disrupt the industry with the Prott app: Prototyping is not so common in Japan, but overseas, many developers typically prototype…
Japanese UX design firm Goodpatch fundraised 100 million yen (or about $1 million) from DG Incubation, the investment arm of Digital Garage (TSE:4819) in December 2013. Back then the firm was in Akihabara, but two months ago they moved to Shibuya, a major startup hub in Tokyo.
Upon visiting the new Goodpatch office, this reporter met a familiar person in addition to the CEO, Naofumi Tsuchiya. It was Boris Friedrich Milkowski, a German who had studied at Keio Media Design (KMD). When he was attending the university, I had been requested by him to join a group focus interview where I offered him my insights about the UI/UX trends for Japanese apps as well as about local startups in Tokyo. He subsequently joined the Goodpatch team for business development to help accelerate the company’s global market expansion.
Goodpatch launched rapid prototyping tool Prott as a “closed beta” in March, and their team is finalizing the release of its official version and its iOS app, scheduled to go live soon. CEO Naofumi Tsuchiya aims to disrupt the industry with the Prott app:
Prototyping is not so common in Japan, but overseas, many developers typically prototype prior to app development commencement. We want to educate the Japanese app development industry about the need for prototyping in association with other companies in this sector.
A prototyping tool allows planners or designers to create a mock-up instantly even if they are less familiar with coding.
Existing design tools have many functions but less usability for mobile app designs. By adding various functions such as “drawing function” to Prott, we can bite into user bases held by other software, such as Adobe Photoshop.
The drawing function he mentioned will be supported in the future version of the Prott app. In addition, they are considering supporting other features like those enabling export of a prototype that has been created outside the prototyping tool.
Because the Protto app has been developed in Japan, it obviously supports the Japanese language. But 70% of users are overseas. We are keen to see how their global release and expansion efforts go.
Goodpatch aims to create a comfortable working environment similar to that of startups in Silicon Valley. The company spent a lot on relocation and interior design, but Tsuchiya says the investment will be worthwhile if it can attract talented people.
An unconfirmed report has it that the Tokyo event of Finland’s annual startup conference Slush will take place at the Goodpatch office on October 3rd. The 2013 event took place at Open Network Lab. By helping organize such events, Goodpatch can contribute to the local startup community in Tokyo and bring in a lot of international perspectives and entrepreneurial spirit.
Goodpatch consists of a 32-person team, of which seven are developing the Prott app. Another prototyping tool Pop, which came from Silicon Valley and Taiwan, recently announced their full-fledged entry into the Japanese market, which indicates this space is heating up. To expand Prott and other UI/UX-focused projects, Goodpatch is hiring, so those interested in working there are advised to immediately contact the firm.
At the entrance.Many flowers from startup folks celebrating Goodpatch’s new office.Rilakkuma is always seated on the best position.A standing desk is good for people like me who have a sore back.A comfortable meeting room overflowing an opening feeling.We see pingpong tables at many startup offices these days.If you visit this corner, you may feel like as if you’ve visited a stylish bar.
Tokyo-based internet marketing company Research and Innovation annouced today that it has fundraised $220 million (about $2.2 million) from Mizuho Capital, Jafco, and DBJ Capital. This follows their previous funds from Mizuho Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, and KLab Ventures. Research and Innovation has been providing two marketing services, called MyComment and Code. MyComment is a mystery shopper platform for retailers, where you can ask users to report if your customers are satisfied with a shopping experience at your online or offline store. Code is a mobile app-based service for consumer goods producers, which allows you to ask consumers to give you feedback about your products after purchase. The company plans to use the funds upon strengthening marketing and hiring efforts for further business expansion. via PR Times
Research and Innovation has been providing two marketing services, called MyComment and Code. MyComment is a mystery shopper platform for retailers, where you can ask users to report if your customers are satisfied with a shopping experience at your online or offline store. Code is a mobile app-based service for consumer goods producers, which allows you to ask consumers to give you feedback about your products after purchase.
The company plans to use the funds upon strengthening marketing and hiring efforts for further business expansion.
Japan’s leading telco KDDI announced today that it has acquired a 90% stake in Natasha, the Tokyo-based company behind popular J-pop culture and entertainment news site Natalie. Since its launch back in 2007, Natalie has acquired about 31 million monthly page views and 6.6 million unique users. They used to have an English version with a plan to expand their reader base to the global market, but it seems like they have shifted to be focused on the Japanese market so the English version has been shut down. via MyNavi
Japan’s leading telco KDDI announced today that it has acquired a 90% stake in Natasha, the Tokyo-based company behind popular J-pop culture and entertainment news site Natalie.
Since its launch back in 2007, Natalie has acquired about 31 million monthly page views and 6.6 million unique users. They used to have an English version with a plan to expand their reader base to the global market, but it seems like they have shifted to be focused on the Japanese market so the English version has been shut down.
Japanese gaming giant GungHo Online Entertainment announced today that it will establish a local subsidiary in Singapore, specifically focused on developing new gaming titles for emerging markets. The company also unveiled it’s plans to strengthen partnerships with local game developers in the Southeast Asian markets, including investments worth 30 billion yen (about $289 million) in the latter. In a press release, GungHo says that this initiative will be conducted in association with Softbank Group (TSE:9984), one of Japan’s leading firms as well as having many investments in Chinese and other Asian companies. GungHo’s chairman Taizo Son is a younger brother of Japanese business tycoon Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank. See also: Japan’s Softbank Mobile to acquire majority shares of game developer Gungho Online Entertainment
Japanese gaming giant GungHo Online Entertainment announced today that it will establish a local subsidiary in Singapore, specifically focused on developing new gaming titles for emerging markets. The company also unveiled it’s plans to strengthen partnerships with local game developers in the Southeast Asian markets, including investments worth 30 billion yen (about $289 million) in the latter.
In a press release, GungHo says that this initiative will be conducted in association with Softbank Group (TSE:9984), one of Japan’s leading firms as well as having many investments in Chinese and other Asian companies. GungHo’s chairman Taizo Son is a younger brother of Japanese business tycoon Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank.
Masaru Ikeda
Junya Mori
