Japanese C2C(consumer-to-consumer) marketplace app producer Mercari announced today that it will acquire Zawatt, the startup behind a Japan-based online auction site catering in brand goods, called Smaoku. The deal takes effect as of Feb.27 but financial details thereof have not been disclosed.
Smaoku (short for Smart Auction) allows users to buy/sell authentic second-hand items vis-a-vis other users. Last May, English and traditional Chinese interfaces became usable in addition to the Japanese one, aiming to serve U.S., Hong Kong, Taiwanese and Singaporean buyers.
Since being established in May of 2011, Zawatt has released several web services including WebScope (social list bulletin board) and Ohako (karaoke companion finder). The company launched Smaoku in October of 2013 and won KDDI Mugen Labo’s 5th batch demo day with the ‘real-time auction’ concept that makes users feel as if they are at a real auction site when buying items online.
In 2015, Zawatt raised 250 million yen(USD 2 million) from IMJ Investment Partners (IMJ-IP), plus China’s SIG Asia Investments and its partner VC firm MS Capital of Japan.
Upon the acquisition at this time, Zawatt co-founder and CEO Daisaku Harada will join Mercari while Smaoku will continue to be run by the current staff.
See the original story in Japanese. Municipal governments of Japan’s Fukuoka and Taiwan’s Taipei earlier this month signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on mutual support by Japanese and Taiwanese startups upon expanding their businesses to the respective markets. Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima visited the Taipei City Hall to sign the MoU with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, which was followed by a joint press briefing. Taipei City has established Taiwan Startup Hub and other incubation facilities to encourage entrepreneurship among the younger generation while Fukuoka City has set up several similar venues such as Startup Cafe (planned to be moved soon to the former Daimyo Elementary School site from the current Tenjin area premise in Fukuoka’s city center). Some of our readers may recall that Fukuoka City held a competition to choose Taiwanese startups to be invited to the former at Taiwan Startup Hub back in July of 2016. Mayor Takashima said that Fukuoka City has introduced these nine Taiwanese startups to a major Japanese department store and other firms through business collaboration and matchmaking opportunities like Fukuoka Startup Selection. Along Mayor Takashima, startup founders and entrepreneurs from Fukuoka were participate in the MoU signing ceremony. Taipei City Mayor Ko…
Fukuoka city mayor Soichiro Takashima and Taipei city mayor Ko Wen-je shake hands after signing the MoU. Image credit: Fukuoka City Office
Municipal governments of Japan’s Fukuoka and Taiwan’s Taipei earlier this month signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on mutual support by Japanese and Taiwanese startups upon expanding their businesses to the respective markets. Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima visited the Taipei City Hall to sign the MoU with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, which was followed by a joint press briefing.
Taipei City has established Taiwan Startup Hub and other incubation facilities to encourage entrepreneurship among the younger generation while Fukuoka City has set up several similar venues such as Startup Cafe (planned to be moved soon to the former Daimyo Elementary School site from the current Tenjin area premise in Fukuoka’s city center). Some of our readers may recall that Fukuoka City held a competition to choose Taiwanese startups to be invited to the former at Taiwan Startup Hub back in July of 2016. Mayor Takashima said that Fukuoka City has introduced these nine Taiwanese startups to a major Japanese department store and other firms through business collaboration and matchmaking opportunities like Fukuoka Startup Selection.
Along Mayor Takashima, startup founders and entrepreneurs from Fukuoka were participate in the MoU signing ceremony. Taipei City Mayor Ko said he wanted to invite them to the city’s brand new incubation hotspots such as Center for Innovation Taipei (CIT), Taipei Co-Space and digiBlock, which will be completed in Taipei Metro’s Yuanshan station neighborhood by the end of this year.
While Fukuoka City has unveiled what kind of support can be offered to Taiwanese startups in Japan through the partnership, the press briefing this time around unveiled how the Taipei City Government can help Japanese startups in Taiwan as follows:
Offering overseas business expansion support by partnering of [email protected] and Fukuoka’s Startup Cafe.
Offering financial support including grants to entrepreneurs to set up a business
Offering support for exhibiting at events and conferences in Taipei
L to R: Masanori Hashimoto (CEO of Nulab), Asuka Tsuzuki (President of Tsuzuki Education Group), Shuhei Ishimaru (Director General of Fukuoka Directive Council), Soichiro Takashima (Mayor of Fukuoka City), Ko Wen-je (Mayor of Taipei City), Lin Chin-rong (Deputy Mayor of Taipei City), Lin Chong-jie (Head of Taipei City’s Department of Economic Development Office) Image credit: Fukuoka City Office
Previously known as MyBanker, Tokyo-based One Tap Buy has been focused on developing a mobile app that specifically helps people manage their savings and investments more easily. The firm announced on Tuesday that it has fundraised 1.5 billion yen (about $13.3 million) from Mizuho Capital, Mobile Internet Capital, Softbank and Mizuho Securities. This follows their previous 1 billion yen funding from Softbank back in July of 2016. Prior to that, the firm also secured an undisclosed sum from Mobile Internet Capital, DBJ Capital and Mitsui Life Insurance’s Sansei Capital, as well as other undisclosed VC firms in June of 2015. Followed by closed beta testing for almost an year, the app was officially launched in last June. The company claims that they have acquired over 150,000 downloads to date, especially from users in their 20s and 30s, while 70% of them have not tried any investment opportunity before. The app allows users to easily choose then buy US-listed stocks and Japanese exchange traded funds rather than using conventional trading platforms. The company says that the new funds will be used to accelerate system development efforts for new services in addition to strengthen marketing efforts to make more people recognize the…
Previously known as MyBanker, Tokyo-based One Tap Buy has been focused on developing a mobile app that specifically helps people manage their savings and investments more easily. The firm announced on Tuesday that it has fundraised 1.5 billion yen (about $13.3 million) from Mizuho Capital, Mobile Internet Capital, Softbank and Mizuho Securities.
This follows their previous 1 billion yen funding from Softbank back in July of 2016. Prior to that, the firm also secured an undisclosed sum from Mobile Internet Capital, DBJ Capital and Mitsui Life Insurance’s Sansei Capital, as well as other undisclosed VC firms in June of 2015.
Followed by closed beta testing for almost an year, the app was officially launched in last June. The company claims that they have acquired over 150,000 downloads to date, especially from users in their 20s and 30s, while 70% of them have not tried any investment opportunity before.
The app allows users to easily choose then buy US-listed stocks and Japanese exchange traded funds rather than using conventional trading platforms. The company says that the new funds will be used to accelerate system development efforts for new services in addition to strengthen marketing efforts to make more people recognize the service.
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy
One Tap Buy CEO Hayashi made his pitch at Startupbootcamp FinTech FastTrack in Tokyo in 2015. Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Dverse, the Japanese startup focused on developing virtual reality (VR) authoring tools, this Tuesday unveiled its VR browser for construction / civil engineering use, named Symmetry Alpha. One can download the browser from the game software distribution platform Steam. The browser was developed based on Unity platform and is currently available for Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. In the future, it will support other platforms such as Oculus Rift, Android Daydream, Samsung Gear or Microsoft HoloLens. It is not easy to express its excellence in words, as with every new VR solution, and yet Symmetry shows an outstanding vision for enabling users to experience a feel of being teleported into the VR world just by importing CAD (computer-aided design) data in SketchUp files. Although there have been other systems that create perspective drawing from CAD data, and in fact design offices or architects have often used them in order to explain design plans to their clients. However, there is a limit for perspective drawing to express 3D data in 2D images, as well as the problem of the blind spots. Symmetry enables users not only to check the outer appearance but also to…
Tokyo-based Dverse, the Japanese startup focused on developing virtual reality (VR) authoring tools, this Tuesday unveiled its VR browser for construction / civil engineering use, named Symmetry Alpha. One can download the browser from the game software distribution platform Steam. The browser was developed based on Unity platform and is currently available for Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. In the future, it will support other platforms such as Oculus Rift, Android Daydream, Samsung Gear or Microsoft HoloLens.
It is not easy to express its excellence in words, as with every new VR solution, and yet Symmetry shows an outstanding vision for enabling users to experience a feel of being teleported into the VR world just by importing CAD (computer-aided design) data in SketchUp files. Although there have been other systems that create perspective drawing from CAD data, and in fact design offices or architects have often used them in order to explain design plans to their clients. However, there is a limit for perspective drawing to express 3D data in 2D images, as well as the problem of the blind spots. Symmetry enables users not only to check the outer appearance but also to virtually be positioned inside the object and to obtain a panoramic view.
Since launched back in October of 2014, Dverse had fundraised an undisclosed amount from BonAngels Venture Partners and Villing Venture Partners in July of 2015, followed by $104 million from 500 Startups Japan, Colopl VR Fund, KLab Venture Partners, Adways (TSE:2489), Willgroup (TSE:6089), and Slogan, in addition to angel investor Shogo Kawada, in June of 2016. According to Dverse CEO Shogo Numakura, the firm had conducted contract-planning and development of VR software for operational training use as commissioned by major enterprises, but have been focusing on development of Symmetry since around last January.
This day’s launch is a St. Valentine’s Day present to the world. The support languages are not especially limited to VR, so that it can become a solution without language barriers.
Numakura comments on the firm’s view:
I considered using the same approach as Adobe did for Acrobat; we first offered users the use of our browser for free and let them recognize the usefulness of VR in business. We plan to launch an editor (authoring) tool as a premium service during the third quarter. I expect that VR for business use will go into full swing within a few years.
Numakura also said that it is not easy for VR startups to raise funds or to seek new markets domestically only and that he considers overseas development of Dverse as a solution to these problems. The firm plans to establish local offices in Silicon Beach LA (tech startup community based on from Santa Monica to Venice Beach) in the U.S. and in Shoreditch (the up-north area of London’s Tech City) in the UK within the year, as well as one in China, which is showing great performance by VR startups with an eye to the future.
Although the firm does not plan an exhibition at SXSW (South by Southwest), Numakura told us that his company intends to introduce the browser through participation in various startup events or VR-related conferences which will be held within and outside Japan from this Spring.
How can Dverse change the global construction and civil engineering fields? It behooves a close look at their activities.
Translated by Taijiro Takeda Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Progate, offering an online code learning service under the same name, announced on Monday that it has secured 100 million yen (about $880,000) in funding from FreakOut Holdings (TSE:6094), DeNA (TSE:2432), and individual investors. Details concerning the payment date and shareholding ratios were not disclosed. In addition to this, the company announced that their number of users has reached 120,000, that it is being used as teaching materials in around 10 high schools in Japan, and they revealed the expansion of their services with “Progate for School” and “Progate for Business.” Progate, which was launched in the summer of 2014 by three students attending the University of Tokyo at that time, has been able satisfy users up to now. However, their competitor Codecademy has secured tens of millions of users on a global scale. Following up on this, Progate’s CEO Masanori Kato revealed plans to release an international version of their service within 2017, with the particular desire to become an influential presence in the Asian region. He said: Although we don’t have clear results yet (regarding tests of the overseas version), considering Progate’s current demographic of 25-34 year olds, which is a…
Students at a highschool learning how to code using the “Progate for School” service. Image credit: Progate
Tokyo-based Progate, offering an online code learning service under the same name, announced on Monday that it has secured 100 million yen (about $880,000) in funding from FreakOut Holdings (TSE:6094), DeNA (TSE:2432), and individual investors. Details concerning the payment date and shareholding ratios were not disclosed.
In addition to this, the company announced that their number of users has reached 120,000, that it is being used as teaching materials in around 10 high schools in Japan, and they revealed the expansion of their services with “Progate for School” and “Progate for Business.”
Progate, which was launched in the summer of 2014 by three students attending the University of Tokyo at that time, has been able satisfy users up to now. However, their competitor Codecademy has secured tens of millions of users on a global scale. Following up on this, Progate’s CEO Masanori Kato revealed plans to release an international version of their service within 2017, with the particular desire to become an influential presence in the Asian region.
Although we don’t have clear results yet (regarding tests of the overseas version), considering Progate’s current demographic of 25-34 year olds, which is a large demographic in Southeast Asia, we think this target is consistent. There are many people who are fascinated by learning programming and it could have an even bigger effect on their lives than Japanese users, and we’d like to appeal to this target while taking advantage of the position of FreakOut, who participated in funding this time around.
Kato also remarked on their goal to increase examples created by users in conjunction with their service by adding applied lesson content, thus gradually showing overseas users the value of their service.
Along with the freshness of a business centered on the creation of students, they are worth paying attention to as they challenge the field of programming education which supports future developers who will go on to shape the world. To what extent will they be able to contribute to the developing capabilities of their generation? I would like to report on it again after quantitative information becomes available.
The Progate team Image credit: Progate
Translated by Amanda Imasaka Edited by Masaru Ikeda
This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here. I like to preach that Silicon Valley no longer has a monopoly on tech innovation. Startup ecosystems around the world have emerged and have produced many game-changing innovations over the past couple decades. Yet in one area several of these communities (not all, but many) remain in the dark ages relative to North America: employee incentive management. Readers of my blog know that one of my recurring gripes is the regulatory difficulty in granting equity to stakeholders of French startups. France, however, is not uniquely guilty. The government in the Netherlands, for example, has made granting stock options in startups so fiscally unappealing that the instrument is useless. Between bouts of complaining though, I had also promised to expand on some of the lessons I’ve learned over the years on establishing non-monetary incentives in venture-backed…
This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at http://rude.vc or follow him @markbivens. The Japanese translation of this article is available here.
I like to preach that Silicon Valley no longer has a monopoly on tech innovation. Startup ecosystems around the world have emerged and have produced many game-changing innovations over the past couple decades.
Yet in one area several of these communities (not all, but many) remain in the dark ages relative to North America: employee incentive management.
Readers of my blog know that one of my recurring gripes is the regulatory difficulty in granting equity to stakeholders of French startups. France, however, is not uniquely guilty. The government in the Netherlands, for example, has made granting stock options in startups so fiscally unappealing that the instrument is useless.
Between bouts of complaining though, I had also promised to expand on some of the lessons I’ve learned over the years on establishing non-monetary incentives in venture-backed startups across Europe. Many of these lessons could be applicable to innovators in any geography.
A personal story
First, a detour into a personal anecdote. When I first graduated from university with a degree in Electrical Engineering, like most clueless 22 year-olds I didn’t know which career to pursue. I just knew that I didn’t want to become an electrical engineer for a living. This was in the 90s, a period in which the default career step for new grads who didn’t know what to do was… consulting.
Despite not really understanding what management consultants actually did, I miraculously received a handful of job offers from the main firms and decided to join one which seemed like the best fit for me. No offense to this firm, which is world-class, but within three months of my first job out of college I realized that I was not the best fit for consulting.
I began spending spare weekends (spare evenings were non-existent) with a former classmate brainstorming on new business ideas. The positive energy from these sessions drew a stark constrast with my day job. I almost resigned in anticipation, but then my employer pulled a jedi mind trick on me which completely shifted my momentum:
They gave me a prize.
The partners of our firm’s office presented me with an award of recognition for my purportedly extraordinary efforts on a client engagement. It was a glass trophy, with no monetary award attached, but a plaque inscribed with my name and the words, “extraordinary achiever” or something like that.
And you know what, it worked. This glass trophy (which probably cost a mere dollar to manufacture in China) re-energized my motivation and loyalty to my firm for another year. Crucially, I was presented this award during a quarterly all-hands meeting, on a stage to the applause of the entire office. This event motivated me more than any bonus or raise ever could have. Even when I try to look back on the occasion with detached hindsight to laugh, I can still sense some of the residual pride I had felt that day.
With this demonstration of human psychology as a backdrop, and in the spirit of spurring creativity among all company-builders reading this, here are a handful of ideas to attract, motivate, and retain your employees on a startup budget.
12 cost-effective ideas to motivate your team:
Give awards. Recognize performance in a manner visible to the whole company. Prizes could take the form of inexpensive trophies, French Open or Stade de France tickets, Michelin restaurant vouchers, etc.
Hold internal competitions. For example, create an 8-week internal hackathon comprised of cross-functional teams (1 salesperson, 1 developer, 1 designer) to produce a viable new revenue line for your company. Teams present their creation in front of the company at the end of the period. Allocate one hour every Friday morning on company time for teams to collaborate. Pride and ego will probably encourage teams to work on their project outside of company time. The winning team receives a prize, but the real winner will be your startup.
Invite a star performer to join a board meeting on occasion (for those whom would enjoy this and not feel intimidated by it).
Grant extreme flexibility in work arrangements: let employees work the hours they wish, from the location they wish, and measure them solely on deliverables, not “office time”.
Create a warm and fuzzy office environment where employees enjoy spending time. Let employees decorate their own desk, provide free monthly catering from a company like La Belle Assiette (I’ll even give you a 40€ voucher if you’re in Belgium, France, Germany, or UK). Or consider relocating your office to a place like Station F. I recently visited one office that put a barbershop in a side room with a barber on-demand which I thought was really cool.
Invite a visiting speaker once a semester, such as a Silicon Valley type on vacation, or a developer to talk about the latest techniques in Rails, or anyone that might be of interest to the staff.
Be creative in granting job titles. Job titles cost the company virtually nothing yet can deliver immeasurable perceptual value to the employee.
Give employees the latest iPhone. As with job titles, there’s an arbitrage opportunity here between the perceived value vs. cost of free smartphones.
Hold periodic company retreats to brainstorm on strategy in a remote environment like a wine-tasting outing, a farmhouse, a kayaking trip, etc. The key is that everyone be invited to contribute to the discussion. You can abandon company hierarchy for a day.
Empower your employees. Give them some autonomy and the ability to fail without repercussions. To the extent possible, allow them to control their own budgets up to a certain limit.
Communicate as openly as you can about the opportunities and challenges facing your business. Twitter and Medium founder Evan Williams is frequently praised by his employees who remain fervently loyal to him. Keeping employees in the dark is a recipe for underperformance.
Make your employees feel that they’re a part of something big. Treat your employees like fonctionnaires if you want to run your startup like a government agency and go nowhere.
Masaru Ikeda
Takeshi Hirano
The Bridge
This guest post is authored by Mark Bivens. Mark is a Silicon Valley native and former entrepreneur, having started three companies before “turning to the dark side of VC.” He is a venture capitalist that travels between Paris and Tokyo (aka the RudeVC). You can read more on his blog at 
