Whenever I attend demo-day events at local incubators in Tokyo, I always find someone working on information services for foreign visitors to Japan. We have seen Tsunagu Japan at the recent Open Network Lab’s Demo Day as well as Odigo at Pioneers Festival’s qualifier event in Tokyo. There was also the March launch of a mobile app called Lifull TraveRing. In view of the increase in foreign tourists leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games, travel-related web services and mobile apps are becoming hot commodities in Japan.
A web service called Planetyze launched in April aims to help foreign visitors discover travel spots outside of the major tourist destinations of Tokyo and Kyoto. Planetyze is a sister website of Travelience, a search portal for international visitors coming to Japan.
Travelience CEO Naoki Hashimoto, who operates Planetyze, realized that most visitors are concentrated in the major destinations in Japan because travel information for rural areas has not become easily available to travelers. So the company appointed Kimiko Kasahara as the editor in chief for the new platform to focus on curating useful travel information from around Japan for international visitors. Kasahara is the former chief editor at The Japan Times.
Planetyze allows users to create a travel itinerary, add their travel plans to the app’s calendar menu from any of the articles introducing destinations, and to also ask licensed guides to suggest available travel plans. In contrast to Travelience, which the company has been providing that allows users to buy excursions only, Planetyze enables users to create a custom-made trip.
With the launch of Planetyze, Travelience now has three tourist-related web services, the other two being Travelience and TripleLights. Planetyze could be seen as a pivot for the previous two services. It will be interesting to see what synergy these three services will produce.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Global Brain, a Japanese VC firm focused on investing in startups, signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Asan Nanum Foundation, a non-profit organization backed by Korea’s leading conglomerate Hyundai to help nourishing startups and entrepreneurship, on Wednesday in Seoul. Based on the partnership, the Japanese firm announced that it has set up a regional office in Campus Seoul, Google’s state-of-the-art incubation facility which was just launched last week in Korea’s startup hub area of Gangnam. The firm recently announced that it has also launched its Singapore office. Collocating resident investors like 500 Startups, Maru180, the incubator of the Asan Nanum Foundation, has an incubation space in Campus Seoul. Upon the launch of the new local office, Global Brain wants to strengthen investments in Korean startups and help with market expansion into the Japanese market as well as encouraging Japanese enterprises to enter the Korean market in partnership with Maru180. Global Brain announced last year that it had appointed Chester Jungseok Roh as chief representative for its Seoul office, however he will step down from the position and become an advisor for the company because he will launch a new startup. To make up for that, the firm’s venture partner Jooil Hong will be…
Global Brain CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto (left) and the Asan Nanum Foundation’s managing director Hyungjin Lee (right) sign the partnership MoU at Maru180, Seoul.
Tokyo-based Global Brain, a Japanese VC firm focused on investing in startups, signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Asan Nanum Foundation, a non-profit organization backed by Korea’s leading conglomerate Hyundai to help nourishing startups and entrepreneurship, on Wednesday in Seoul. Based on the partnership, the Japanese firm announced that it has set up a regional office in Campus Seoul, Google’s state-of-the-art incubation facility which was just launched last week in Korea’s startup hub area of Gangnam. The firm recently announced that it has also launched its Singapore office.
Collocating resident investors like 500 Startups, Maru180, the incubator of the Asan Nanum Foundation, has an incubation space in Campus Seoul. Upon the launch of the new local office, Global Brain wants to strengthen investments in Korean startups and help with market expansion into the Japanese market as well as encouraging Japanese enterprises to enter the Korean market in partnership with Maru180.
Global Brain announced last year that it had appointed Chester Jungseok Roh as chief representative for its Seoul office, however he will step down from the position and become an advisor for the company because he will launch a new startup. To make up for that, the firm’s venture partner Jooil Hong will be appointed as the new representative for the Seoul office.
Prior to joining Global Brain, Hong had been previously supervising the growth strategy department of Kakao and Daum Kakao (KOSDAQ:035720), Korea’s leading internet companies, following his founding of several startups. Leveraging a vast network that Maru180, Campus Seoul, Roh, and Hong have realized in the local startup community, the firm looks to explore prominent startups and more investment opportunities in Korea.
This is a combined abridged version of the first article and the second article. Tokyo-based SenSprout has been developing hardware devices and Internet services focused on agriculture. Launching a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo with an initial goal of raising $10,000 on Monday, the company reached the goal in only two days. There are 58 days more to go until the campaign closes, so it will be interesting to see how much more money the team raises. SenSprout is a leaf-shaped sensor that measures rainfall and soil moisture, allowing users to receive metrics with their smartphone or other devices. Sensor systems for agriculture are not a new concept but they are hard for farmers to implement because they require an average of over 10 million yen ($85,000) investment and a network for data acquisition. See also: Japan’s SenSprout wants to save the world from water crisis with BLE-enabled sensors In this campaign, the team provides nine kinds of rewards for backers including the Early Bird Special craft kit for $45 and other more expensive backing options. The campaign is integrated with a recent startup competition hosted by Chivas Regal where SenSprout was chosen as one of 16 finalists out of more…
Tokyo-based SenSprout has been developing hardware devices and Internet services focused on agriculture. Launching a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo with an initial goal of raising $10,000 on Monday, the company reached the goal in only two days. There are 58 days more to go until the campaign closes, so it will be interesting to see how much more money the team raises.
SenSprout is a leaf-shaped sensor that measures rainfall and soil moisture, allowing users to receive metrics with their smartphone or other devices. Sensor systems for agriculture are not a new concept but they are hard for farmers to implement because they require an average of over 10 million yen ($85,000) investment and a network for data acquisition.
In this campaign, the team provides nine kinds of rewards for backers including the Early Bird Special craft kit for $45 and other more expensive backing options. The campaign is integrated with a recent startup competition hosted by Chivas Regal where SenSprout was chosen as one of 16 finalists out of more than 1,000 startup applications. Apart from the campaign, the top prizewinner at the competition will receive a $10,000 cash prize upon voting.
16 finalists from the Chivas Regal startup competition, including the SenSprout team
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based internet service company Beenos (TSE:3328) announced today that it has invested in Bangalore-based startup Byhatke, the startup behind Indian price comparison site Buyhatke.com. This was co-invested with Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of India’s leading system integration company Infosys, and is valued at $1 million. Buyhatke was founded in 2013 by Gaurav Dahake and his team while attending Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Buyhatke.com curates profiles of over 3,000 items from more than 300 e-commerce sites, providing users with real-time price information based on data analysis. The platform proposes the best timing to buy a product based on past price trends, alerts when the price hits the bottom, and also offers search engine for discount coupons that can be used at purchase. When Xiaomi and OnePlusPne released their smartphones in India last year, the platform offers consumers accurate analysis of price trends for the products on many e-commerce sites in Asia, which attracted many users and catapulted the service into fame. The company consists of a 15-person team, and many members are from IITs and previously worked at companies like Amazon, Samsung, and India’s leading e-commerce site Flipcart. The company will use the funds to…
Tokyo-based internet service company Beenos (TSE:3328) announced today that it has invested in Bangalore-based startup Byhatke, the startup behind Indian price comparison site Buyhatke.com. This was co-invested with Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of India’s leading system integration company Infosys, and is valued at $1 million.
Buyhatke was founded in 2013 by Gaurav Dahake and his team while attending Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Buyhatke.com curates profiles of over 3,000 items from more than 300 e-commerce sites, providing users with real-time price information based on data analysis. The platform proposes the best timing to buy a product based on past price trends, alerts when the price hits the bottom, and also offers search engine for discount coupons that can be used at purchase. When Xiaomi and OnePlusPne released their smartphones in India last year, the platform offers consumers accurate analysis of price trends for the products on many e-commerce sites in Asia, which attracted many users and catapulted the service into fame.
The company consists of a 15-person team, and many members are from IITs and previously worked at companies like Amazon, Samsung, and India’s leading e-commerce site Flipcart. The company will use the funds to expand the team to 50 by end of the year.
Starting with investment in online marketplace ShopClues in January 2013, Beenos has accelerated its investment efforts in the Indian e-commerce market including the one in payments solution company CitrusPay. While Beenos founder Teruhide Sato stepped down as CEO of Beenos last December, he previously shared his insight that online marketplaces are king, payments solutions companies are queen, as well as affiliate and price comparison sites are princes in the e-commerce industry. He is no longer involved in managing Beenos, but the company’s series of investments in Indian startups definitely follows his perspective. Sato also became an angel investor in an Indian startup.
Since its launch in 2008, Tokyo-based startup Eureka has developed Pairs and Couples, mobile apps for dating and couples. The company announced today that it has been wholly acquired by US-Based The Match Group, a company of NASDAQ-listed IAC which runs globally online dating services such as Match, OKCupid, Tinder, HowAboutWe, Meetic, Twoo as well as other media sites including Ask, About.com, and Vimeo. Details of the acquisition price has not been disclosed. See also: Boasting over 1.3M users, Japan’s Eureka tackles online dating with data-driven approach Pairs is a Facebook-based dating and marriage hunting app launched in 2012 and has acquired over 1.5 million users in Japan and 800,000 users in Taiwan to date. Couple is a memory-sharing and messaging app for couples, and has acquired over 2.2 million users. The company recently launched a media business targeting couples in their teens and 20s leveraging the user base of the Couple app, planning to launch a traditional Chinese version for Taiwanese users in June. Taking advantage of the business experience of IAC with which has succeeded in many media businesses globally, Eureka wants to further develop its business around the Couples app not only in Japan but also in the Southeast Asian…
Since its launch in 2008, Tokyo-based startup Eureka has developed Pairs and Couples, mobile apps for dating and couples. The company announced today that it has been wholly acquired by US-Based The Match Group, a company of NASDAQ-listed IAC which runs globally online dating services such as Match, OKCupid, Tinder, HowAboutWe, Meetic, Twoo as well as other media sites including Ask, About.com, and Vimeo. Details of the acquisition price has not been disclosed.
Pairs is a Facebook-based dating and marriage hunting app launched in 2012 and has acquired over 1.5 million users in Japan and 800,000 users in Taiwan to date. Couple is a memory-sharing and messaging app for couples, and has acquired over 2.2 million users. The company recently launched a media business targeting couples in their teens and 20s leveraging the user base of the Couple app, planning to launch a traditional Chinese version for Taiwanese users in June.
Taking advantage of the business experience of IAC with which has succeeded in many media businesses globally, Eureka wants to further develop its business around the Couples app not only in Japan but also in the Southeast Asian region. The two firms will maintain their brands and independent business operations with their personnel structures unchanged after the merger.
In this space, we’ve seen Korean startup VCNC seeing a good growth in Asia and boasting over 11 million downloads (as of January 2015) of its couple messaging app Between, which fundraised an estimated several millions of dollars from 500 Startups and Japanese VC firm Global Brain last year.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based DogHuggy provides a service to replace kennels for dog owners, making it possible by matching them with reliable pet sitters (or hosts) online in a way like Airbnb that connects those in need of staying with others offering a place to stay. DogHuggy, the company behind the service under the same name, announced in March that they have fundraised an undisclosed sum from CyberAgent Ventures. DogHuggy lets users sign up as a dog owner or sitter (host) so that owners who go out of town can find someone reliable and affordable to take care of their pooch. In this space, we’ve seen startups like US-based DogVacay raising $25 million last November as well as Tokyo-based inDog which recently launched a teaser site. For dog owners, DogHuggy shows you a list of available hosts in your neighborhood so that you can choose one of them as your host by checking their profiles and the reason why they have registered. Once your booking is made, you need to take your pooch to the host’s venue and later pick him up according to the schedule that you have agreed with the host. Planning to start its…
From the left: DogHuggy CEO Shogo Nagatsuka, CTO Yohei Someya
Tokyo-based DogHuggy provides a service to replace kennels for dog owners, making it possible by matching them with reliable pet sitters (or hosts) online in a way like Airbnb that connects those in need of staying with others offering a place to stay. DogHuggy, the company behind the service under the same name, announced in March that they have fundraised an undisclosed sum from CyberAgent Ventures.
DogHuggy lets users sign up as a dog owner or sitter (host) so that owners who go out of town can find someone reliable and affordable to take care of their pooch. In this space, we’ve seen startups like US-based DogVacay raising $25 million last November as well as Tokyo-based inDog which recently launched a teaser site.
For dog owners, DogHuggy shows you a list of available hosts in your neighborhood so that you can choose one of them as your host by checking their profiles and the reason why they have registered. Once your booking is made, you need to take your pooch to the host’s venue and later pick him up according to the schedule that you have agreed with the host.
Planning to start its operation in Japan’s major city areas, DogHuggy will offer the service for 4,000 to 5,000 yen (about $33 to $42) per night while conventional kennels usually charge 6,000 to 7,000 yen ($50 to $58). Hosts can partially donate their income from the platform to selected animal welfare NPOs upon request.
In our recent interview with DogHuggy CEO Shogo Nagatsuka and CTO Yohei Someya, they told us what has triggered them to launch the service.
What’s the problem with conventional kennels?
Aged 18 years now, CEO Nagatsuka has loved animals since childhood. So he took a class of animal welfare while attending a high school attached to a college of veterinary medicine. In contrast with the US and UK where people obtain pets from breeders, he learned that pets in Japan are typically being sold at pet shops as a commodity.
Uncovering the fact that this type of trade practice results in a tendency to abuse pets which is especially on rise in Japan, Nagatsuka felt a sense of urgency with increased awareness of the problem to be dealt with. He thought how he can make a greater contribution through work to the society than by just becoming a veterinarian helping animals at hand. So he started with solving common problems that many pet owners face while attending high school.
When out of town, dog owners typically entrust their pets to kennels. But the service quality of kennels in Japan is inferior to that in Western countries, and not merely that dogs are penned in a very small cage. The DogHuggy team interviewed 200 people walking with their dogs in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo’s huge green area known for having several dog run facilities. As a result, the team learned that many dog owners use kennels because there’s no other choice when leaving home.
Nagatsuka explained:
I have entrusted my pooch to kennels, but he returned in an unwell condition when I picked him up at the kennel because he was forced to spend long hours in a small cage and got stressed. I then came to avoid taking long day trips because I was afraid that the same thing would happen again.
Caring for beloved animals, not just making money
DogHuggy prioritizes improving the quality of their pet sitters. Only qualified sitters upon interview are allowed to sign up as a host, and many of them have a publicly-certified license. Nagatsuka and Someya have taken advantage of their network since school to attract licensed pet sitters.
In addition, using DogHuggy, their pet sitters are obliged to send at least three daily snapshots of your pooch per night so that it will keep you updated about how your pooch spends a good time even when being apart. The team also has a system enabling rapid response to your possible anxiety about your pooch as needed.
In terms of the demographics of hosts, many of them are people in their late 20s to early 30s who typically have a pooch at their parents’ home but are unable to do in their apartment in urban areas.
Nagatsuka elaborated:
Many of our hosts agree with our vision of wanting to help animals and make them happier. Because of the platform allowing them to donate animal welfare NPOs, they are participating in our activities upon supporting our vision rather than just making money.
DogHuggy is planning to launch pretty soon. They want to acquire 500 hosts by the end of this June.
Translated by Taijiro Takeda Edited by Masaru Ikeda & “Tex” Pomeroy
Masaru Ikeda
Takeshi Hirano
Yukari Mitsuhashi
