This is the abridged version of our original article in Japanese.
Tokyo-based Money Forward, the startup behind the personal accounting app of the same name, announced today that it has raised 1.5 billion yen (about $12.6 million) from Japanese investment company Jafco, credit card company Credit Saison, packaged software developer Source Next, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Dentsu Digital Holdings, and GMO Venture Partners. Details of the investment have not been disclosed. This follows their previous round fundraising $5 million from Jafco last year.
Money Forward provides online personal accounting for individuals, allowing them to easily manage their daily expenses by integrating with their bank passbooks and credit purchase history with information scraped from their web bank and credit accounts. The service is also available for desktop, as well as iOS and Android platforms.
Coinciding with the funds, the company announced that it will launch a payroll service in March 2015. This will be the third line-up for them, following a cloud-based tax-return and accounting solution and a cloud-based invoicing platform.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based incubator 01Booster announced today that it would launch a startup acceleration program called Morinaga Accelerator in partnership with Japanese confectionery giant Morinaga & Company (TSE:2201). This is part of the Okashinnovation project, an innovation initiative launched by the confectionery company last April, that aims to stimulate people’s interest and creativity by leveraging the attraction of confections. The program will bring Morinaga, entrepreneurs, and SMEs together to complement each other in order to make innovation happen. While we have not seen many incubation initiatives by the food industry, companies like Samuel Adams, Procter & Gamble, and Coca Cola have their own investment or incubation arm. Morinaga Accelerator will begin receiving applications from entrepreneurs in January 2015, followed by a launch of the first batch in April 2015. 01Booster announced the launch of Gakken Accelerator in partnership with Japanese leading education service company Gakken (TSE:9470) in October. 01Booster expects to increase partnerships with more established companies and accelerate Open Innovation initiatives in the startup community.
Tokyo-based incubator 01Booster announced today that it would launch a startup acceleration program called Morinaga Accelerator in partnership with Japanese confectionery giant Morinaga & Company (TSE:2201).
This is part of the Okashinnovation project, an innovation initiative launched by the confectionery company last April, that aims to stimulate people’s interest and creativity by leveraging the attraction of confections. The program will bring Morinaga, entrepreneurs, and SMEs together to complement each other in order to make innovation happen.
While we have not seen many incubation initiatives by the food industry, companies like Samuel Adams, Procter & Gamble, and Coca Cola have their own investment or incubation arm. Morinaga Accelerator will begin receiving applications from entrepreneurs in January 2015, followed by a launch of the first batch in April 2015.
01Booster announced the launch of Gakken Accelerator in partnership with Japanese leading education service company Gakken (TSE:9470) in October. 01Booster expects to increase partnerships with more established companies and accelerate Open Innovation initiatives in the startup community.
This is the abridged version of our original article in Japanese. Gugen, the annual hardware contest aimed at encouraging engineers to develop futuristic products, held its second edition last week, where Japanese functional pacifier device called Oshaburi Sensor won the top prize followed by nine other contestants. At last year’s contest, functional prosthetic hand Handiii won the top prize and subsequently secured funds to develop its first prototype through a crowdfunding campaign. Some 126 submissions were made to the competition; let’s have a quick look at the most outstanding devices. Oshaburi Sensor: Sensor-enabled pacifier device This device allows parents to see how strongly their baby sucks on a pacifier. Based on a recording of the pattern of sucking, the device can detect the condition of a baby and alert a parent if necessary. Scopion: Distance measurement device Scopion is a distance measurement device that counts the number of people that have passed in front of the device or measures the distance between the device and an obstacle. The measured metrics can be transmitted to a smartphone via BlueTooth to alert the user of the results. Raplus: Rehabilitation assistance device This device is an attachable, robotic rehabilitation assistant for the knee….
This is the abridged version of our original article in Japanese.
Gugen, the annual hardware contest aimed at encouraging engineers to develop futuristic products, held its second edition last week, where Japanese functional pacifier device called Oshaburi Sensor won the top prize followed by nine other contestants.
At last year’s contest, functional prosthetic hand Handiii won the top prize and subsequently secured funds to develop its first prototype through a crowdfunding campaign.
Some 126 submissions were made to the competition; let’s have a quick look at the most outstanding devices.
Oshaburi Sensor: Sensor-enabled pacifier device
This device allows parents to see how strongly their baby sucks on a pacifier. Based on a recording of the pattern of sucking, the device can detect the condition of a baby and alert a parent if necessary.
Scopion: Distance measurement device
Scopion is a distance measurement device that counts the number of people that have passed in front of the device or measures the distance between the device and an obstacle. The measured metrics can be transmitted to a smartphone via BlueTooth to alert the user of the results.
Raplus: Rehabilitation assistance device
This device is an attachable, robotic rehabilitation assistant for the knee.
RulerBot: Digital scale ruler
This digital scale ruler takes measurements that are longer than the ruler so that a line can be drawn that is longer than the ruler while also measuring total length.
Oriev: Folding electric motorcycle
Oriev is a folding electric motorcycle that is easy to tote by hand.
OTOPOT: Water pot voice message recorder
OTOPOT records short messages when a user lifts the lid and speaks into the pot. When the lid is lifted again the recorded message is played. Tilting the pot deletes the message.
PRS: Personal home security system
PRS is a personal security system for homes or shops. It sends an email alert to a smartphone if changes are detected in the area being monitored.
Hikari x Tsumiki: Playable functional blocks
Every block from this product has a different function that allows users to create a variety of functionalities according to the pattern of the connected blocks.
Mouth motion-based user interface for the physically changed
Designed for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patients and the physically challenged, this device allows users to control their PC or motorized wheelchair via mouth movements.
Korokoro Plug: Measuring wheel device for smartphone
Korokoro Plug is a measuring wheel device for smartphones. No battery is needed because it is plug-in powered via earphone jack.
See the original story in Japanese. Japanese Internet company Adways (TSE:2489) announced today that it has secured a comprehensive business partnership with Taiwanese startup VMFive, the company behind AdPlay. AdPlay lets users demo an app before purchasing it with no pre-installed software or SDKs required from developers. As part of this effort, Adways has integrated its app pre-registration platform Yoyaku Top 10 (also known in English as PreLaunch Party) with VMFive’s AdPlay, which lets users demo an app before its launch. The new feature based on this integration is called Teaser Play. See also: Japan’s Adways launches pre-registration platform in US, helping game developers better monetize Adways plans to integrate AdPlay into the company’s app tracking tool PartyTrack as well, aiming to better support game developers from the pre-launch phase to the post-landing phase for their titles. See also: Adways’ Party Track begins integration with 5Rocks to create one-stop mobile analytics solution The Teaser Play feature is available in the Japanese edition of Yoyaku Top 10, but will soon expand to the Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, and US editions.
Japanese Internet company Adways (TSE:2489) announced today that it has secured a comprehensive business partnership with Taiwanese startup VMFive, the company behind AdPlay. AdPlay lets users demo an app before purchasing it with no pre-installed software or SDKs required from developers.
As part of this effort, Adways has integrated its app pre-registration platform Yoyaku Top 10 (also known in English as PreLaunch Party) with VMFive’s AdPlay, which lets users demo an app before its launch. The new feature based on this integration is called Teaser Play.
Adways plans to integrate AdPlay into the company’s app tracking tool PartyTrack as well, aiming to better support game developers from the pre-launch phase to the post-landing phase for their titles.
The Teaser Play feature is available in the Japanese edition of Yoyaku Top 10, but will soon expand to the Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, and US editions.
The screen transition of the Teaser Play-enabled PreLaunch Party platform.
Adways Interactive, a San Francisco-based subsidiary of Japanese internet company Adways (TSE:2489), announced last week that it has released the beta version of a pre-registration platform in the US, called PreLaunch Party. The platform is aimed to serve mid-core Android game developers and help them improve their user retention rate, ARPU (average revenue per user) as well as LTV (user lifetime value). From a user perspective, pre-registration platforms make you register before the launch of a game title, and subsequently can get rewards when the title finally launches. You can get not only the latest game information but also rewards such as rare items or draw gacha rewards for free which typical users need to pay for. In this way, game developers can help promoting their titles and reach potential users before its launch. PreLaunch Party was launched in 2013 in Japan under the name of Yoyaku Top 10, and has expanded to Korea, China, and Taiwan to date. Currently used by 500,000 registered users, it has recorded LTV and retention rate of over 1.5 times higher than that of organic users. In Japan, there are several pre-registration platforms available now, which are obviously competitors for PreLaunch Party, including Ichihaya,…
Adways Interactive, a San Francisco-based subsidiary of Japanese internet company Adways (TSE:2489), announced last week that it has released the beta version of a pre-registration platform in the US, called PreLaunch Party. The platform is aimed to serve mid-core Android game developers and help them improve their user retention rate, ARPU (average revenue per user) as well as LTV (user lifetime value).
From a user perspective, pre-registration platforms make you register before the launch of a game title, and subsequently can get rewards when the title finally launches. You can get not only the latest game information but also rewards such as rare items or draw gacha rewards for free which typical users need to pay for. In this way, game developers can help promoting their titles and reach potential users before its launch.
PreLaunch Party was launched in 2013 in Japan under the name of Yoyaku Top 10, and has expanded to Korea, China, and Taiwan to date. Currently used by 500,000 registered users, it has recorded LTV and retention rate of over 1.5 times higher than that of organic users.
In Japan, there are several pre-registration platforms available now, which are obviously competitors for PreLaunch Party, including Ichihaya, Flying Gatcha, and Game Gift.
This is part of our coverage of the Infinity Ventures Summit 2014 in Kyoto, Japan. See the original story in Japanese. At the Infinity Ventures Summit in Kyoto last week, 13 startups showcased their products to an audience of investors and entrepreneurs. Osaka-based Galaxy Agency, the company behind parking lot sharing platform Akippa, won the top prize. The top five winners and finalists were: 1st prize winner: Akippa (by Galaxy Agency) Akippa is an online peer-to-peer parking lot sharing platform. Launched in Osaka, the service is available all across Japan and it allows users to park their car for up to 500 yen ($4) a day. They recently launched a valet parking service at selected locations, called Akippa Plus. See also: Japan’s parking lot sharing platform Akippa secures additional funding from DeNA Japan’s Airbnb for parking spaces ‘Akippa’ fundraises from DeNA and angel investors Japan’s Akippa and Uber teamed up, proposing park-and-ride option for car owners 2nd prize winner: PopSlide (by Yoyo Holdings) PopSlide is one of the largest mobile reward platforms in Southeast Asia. The platform distributes news, weather forecasts, and other updates to your smartphone lock screen. In return for viewing such information, users receive rewards for free…
At the Infinity Ventures Summit in Kyoto last week, 13 startups showcased their products to an audience of investors and entrepreneurs. Osaka-based Galaxy Agency, the company behind parking lot sharing platform Akippa, won the top prize. The top five winners and finalists were:
1st prize winner: Akippa (by Galaxy Agency)
Akippa’s mobile app
Akippa is an online peer-to-peer parking lot sharing platform. Launched in Osaka, the service is available all across Japan and it allows users to park their car for up to 500 yen ($4) a day. They recently launched a valet parking service at selected locations, called Akippa Plus.
PopSlide is one of the largest mobile reward platforms in Southeast Asia. The platform distributes news, weather forecasts, and other updates to your smartphone lock screen. In return for viewing such information, users receive rewards for free Internet access on their smartphone.
Designed for dairy and stock farmers, Farmnote helps farmers manage livestock such as the early detection of disease and optimum breeding time for livestock. The mobile app can record livestock activity and store the data on the cloud as well as monitor a farm or a ranch.
4th prize winner: Karte (by Plaid)
Karte is a real-time customer behavior analytics platform for e-commerce sites. The platform provides insight into the demographics of typical e-commerce customers visiting a site, and it automates promotion efforts in order to gain conversion rates for opportunities such as user registration or item purchases.
5th prize winner: Mamorio (by Otoshimono.com)
Mamorio is the world’s smallest tracking tag that helps people find lost items using crowdsourced forces. The Otoshimono.com team launched a crowdfunding campaign for the tracking tag device on Japanese crowdfunding site Motion Gallery, and raised 3 million yen ($24,800) in a target bid of 1.5 million yen ($12,400).
Below are the startups selected as finalists.
Match: Battle-type study workbook app for high school students (by Baton)
Match is an app that aims to make the studying of Japanese history fun for high school students. The app is comprised of 2,000 questions from textbooks and university entrance exams.
Smaoku: Real-time flash auction app (by Zawatt)
Launched back in early 2013, this mobile auction app targets women in their 20s and 30s. Smaoku deals in luxury brand items, which is a key differentiator from other flea market apps and auction sites. In July, the company partnered with Mobaoku, a DeNA subsidiary behind an auction service.
Bizer lets users crowdsource documentation tasks to business consultants, such as certified tax accountants, labor consultants, notary publics, and judicial scriveners, for a flat monthly subscription fee of 2,980 yen ($30). Accountants offer their free time and provide advice to SME owners via the platform.
Flipdesk: Promotion platform for e-commerce owners (by Socket)
Flipdesk is an e-commerce promotion platform targeting smartphone users. With the platform, e-commerce owners can give a different promotion reward to every customer; such as distributing optimized discount coupons or promotional messages similar to face-to-face sales efforts at a real store. The service has been deployed to Tokyu Hands Net Store, an online storefront by one of Japan’s largest variety store chains.
OpenLogi: Outsourced logistics service for small/medium-sized companies and freelancers
No Initial fee nor monthly fee needed. OpenLogi provides SMEs and freelancers with inspection at warehouse, storage in warehouse, shipping distribution, and management of returned merchandise are available for affordable rates.
Circuit: ‘Deep link’ optimization platform for mobile app developers (by Fukurou Labo)
Deep link means the link that lets users jump to a specific page on a mobile app rather than its top page. By using the Circuit platform and embedding its JavaScript tag on your website, it allows users to show them your content via your mobile app rather than a web browser if users have already installed your app into their handsets.
Wovn.io: Adding multilingual support for websites with single script code (by Minimal Technologies)
Wovn.io provides multilingual support for your website or blog by adding a single JavaScript code to a website source. When you register an URL of your website on Wovn.io, the platform will cut out texts and transfer them to Microsoft’s machine translation service. Translated results can be adjusted using the Wovn.io dashboard.
Sekai Lab: Crowdsourced offshore app development service (by Sekai Lab Pte. Ltd.)
Sekai Lab allows Japanese companies to crowdsource their app development tasks at affordable rates from crowdsourced engineers in China, Vietnam, and other Asian countries. The platform helps users communicate with crowdsourced engineers in Japanese, aiming to help the Japanese IT industry despite a lack of engineers.
Takeshi Hirano
Masaru Ikeda
Junya Mori
