Tokyo-based WAmazing, the Japanese startup offering free SIM cards and tourism services to foreign visitors to Japan, announced today that it has secured funding in the latest round. Participating investors in this round were SBI Investment, Mizuho Capital, Sony Innovation Fund, Beenos, Opt Ventures and Shizuoka Capital, as well as two angel investors, Naoki Aoyagi (former Gree CFO) and Nobuhiro Ariyasu (founder of Coach United / member of Tokyo Founders Fund).
Coinciding with loans from government-backed Japan Finance Corporation along with Mizuho Bank and Shizuoka Bank, WAmazing secured a total of 1 billion yen (about $9.2 million) in funding and debt but the financial terms have not been disclosed. The company claims that the funds will be used to enhance service development and human resources.
The service packages together a SIM card, a tour guide app and information on reservations by working with smartphones. In addition to an iOS app which has been available since the launch of the service, they released an Android app back in August and expanded the locations of vending machines offering SIM cards from all three terminals at Narita Airport into Chubu Centrair Airport in central Japan, near Nagoya. The number of hotels that users can book through the app has reached 10,000 as of now.
In response to our question to Fumiko Kato, CEO of WAmazing, she told us the app had been installed 35,000 times and 12,000 SIM cards had been distributed as of the end of August. These stats are only for iOS app users and do not include that of Android users.
Kato shared their future outlook:
About 80% of visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, the demographics we are targeting, are using Android handsets. According to the survey we conducted among our 2,000 users, we found that about 70% of them had visited Japan at least once an year.
Since the interval between their visits to Japan is shorter than expected, we expect these repeat users to contribute more to our user growth. We aim to surpass 100,000 users by the end of next March.
The company recently added a payments function to its mobile app so that users can complete payments when booking a hotel online. Now they are planning to introduce a robot for distributing SIM cards to users at more locations, aiming to gain 80% of the market for foreign visitors using all airports across Japan within this year.
Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Regulus Technologies, providing a AI-powered personal assistant chatbot named Autok and Autok Biz capable of schedule arrangement for plural attendants, announced on Wednesday that it had raised a seed funding from 500 Startups Japan and KLab Venture Partners. The secured amount was not disclosed but is estimated at several tens of millions of yen (several hundreds of thousands of dollars). Regulus Technologies was founded in December of 2016 by Tsubasa Ito (CEO) who formerly worked at We-b (currently known as Div running a programming course, TECH:CAMP) and Keisuke Tsukayoshi (Chief Design Officer). They had developed Autok for individual users and Autok Biz for enterprise users, and officially launched them this July. Integrating with Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar, Autok enables meeting date arrangement automatically just by sharing a unique URL with the persons to make an appointment with. Autok Biz has a function to collect user’s profile such as their name, desired location to work or working hours, realizing a reduction of workload at call centers for employment interview arrangement by companies which often hire part-time workers; this service has already been introduced to several Japanese listed enterprises including Neo-career. With the fund…
L to R: Keisuke Tsukayoshi (Chief Design Officer), Tsubasa Ito (CEO) Image credit: Regulus Technologies
Tokyo-based Regulus Technologies, providing a AI-powered personal assistant chatbot named Autok and Autok Biz capable of schedule arrangement for plural attendants, announced on Wednesday that it had raised a seed funding from 500 Startups Japan and KLab Venture Partners. The secured amount was not disclosed but is estimated at several tens of millions of yen (several hundreds of thousands of dollars).
Regulus Technologies was founded in December of 2016 by Tsubasa Ito (CEO) who formerly worked at We-b (currently known as Div running a programming course, TECH:CAMP) and Keisuke Tsukayoshi (Chief Design Officer). They had developed Autok for individual users and Autok Biz for enterprise users, and officially launched them this July.
Integrating with Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar, Autok enables meeting date arrangement automatically just by sharing a unique URL with the persons to make an appointment with. Autok Biz has a function to collect user’s profile such as their name, desired location to work or working hours, realizing a reduction of workload at call centers for employment interview arrangement by companies which often hire part-time workers; this service has already been introduced to several Japanese listed enterprises including Neo-career.
With the fund secured at this time, the team is going to enhance human resources recruitment for engineers, sales staffers and marketers, in addition to speeding up service development and business growth. Furthermore, the team will add various functions in the future with the aim to monetize through driving user traffic to meeting space rentals or restaurants, as well as advertising for an available time slot on their calendar.
Image credit: Regulus Technologies
In the field of auto-schedule arrangement with chatbot, there are some similar services: “M” of Facebook (available only in the US), X.ai which recently raised $10 million in series B round with a view to linking with Slack or Alexa (led by Fenox Venture Capital with participation from Silicon Valley Bank and DCM Ventures), and Kono provided by Korea-based Kono Laboratories. In Japan, there was a similar app named Subot shown in the Tech Lab Paak accelerator 3rd batch but the team has already ended its service.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. The Gift Show’s Life x Design exhibition was held from August 30 to September 2 at Tokyo Big Sight, where the startup role in the fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) as related to gifts and other items closely related to daily life was underscored by a specialized corner which brought together several startups offering IoT solutions. At this corner, planned in cooperation with Japanese IT publisher ASCII, in addition to Mamorio, which keeps tabs on such items in one’s possession as keys and other products one might be liable to misplace, there were three other startups showcasing their products such as those monitoring infants. See also: Mamorio, major Japanese pharma tie up for dementia sufferer support Of particular interest was the startup Yukai Engineering, which engineers dental hygiene-use items such as robot-like toothbrush which is designed to motivate children as well as the elderly to brush their teeth and ensuring they are kept track of. As the average Japanese lifespan is extended, dental hygiene is said to be a benchmark to Quality of Life. Of particular interest was the startup…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
Mamorio exhibits their botth at the Gift Show’s Life x Design exhibition. Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy
The Gift Show’s Life x Design exhibition was held from August 30 to September 2 at Tokyo Big Sight, where the startup role in the fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) as related to gifts and other items closely related to daily life was underscored by a specialized corner which brought together several startups offering IoT solutions.
At this corner, planned in cooperation with Japanese IT publisher ASCII, in addition to Mamorio, which keeps tabs on such items in one’s possession as keys and other products one might be liable to misplace, there were three other startups showcasing their products such as those monitoring infants.
Of particular interest was the startup Yukai Engineering, which engineers dental hygiene-use items such as robot-like toothbrush which is designed to motivate children as well as the elderly to brush their teeth and ensuring they are kept track of. As the average Japanese lifespan is extended, dental hygiene is said to be a benchmark to Quality of Life.
Of particular interest was the startup Yukai Engineering, which offers IoT products as exemplified by BOCCO robot-linked toothbrush for children and even the elderly, enabling them to be monitored. Speaking of toothbrushing generally in an observation unrelated to this specific product… especially with the average Japanese lifespan continuing to be extended, dental hygiene built up from early on can be considered to indicate the level of Quality of Life.
In addition, there were other startup exhibitors providing items that uses design to market itself and even those not design-oriented but able to use unique features as stressing traditional Japanese customs and utilizing brands from the past. Collaborations among different companies from various sectors were especially eye-catching.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. Singapore-based micro-survey firm Happi is launching its 2.0 app over the Asia-Pacific region, starting with Southeast Asia, Oceania, India, Sri Lanka and Japan as well as Columbia. It has other locations in the pipeline now. Available in 11 languages, the app includes a self-service portal to enable partners and clients to conduct market research and consumer activation quickly, easily and inexpensively. Happi was founded by Greg Lipper in January of 2016 and has to date processed over 2.5 million survey responses from over 20,000 users – mostly university students – in Singapore and Manila. The Happi founder says, What turns this around from a marketing perspective is its ease and frequency. Instead of sitting through a 45-minute survey where you never hear from the company again, respondents only take a minute to answer questions, win prizes, and we can touch base with them anytime we want. This micro-survey app enables clients to understand, engage and converse at scale with precisely defined consumer segments. The surveys are quick and regular, enticing respondents back with opportunities to win prizes and contribute to their favorite causes…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
Happi
Singapore-based micro-survey firm Happi is launching its 2.0 app over the Asia-Pacific region, starting with Southeast Asia, Oceania, India, Sri Lanka and Japan as well as Columbia. It has other locations in the pipeline now. Available in 11 languages, the app includes a self-service portal to enable partners and clients to conduct market research and consumer activation quickly, easily and inexpensively.
Happi was founded by Greg Lipper in January of 2016 and has to date processed over 2.5 million survey responses from over 20,000 users – mostly university students – in Singapore and Manila.
The Happi founder says,
What turns this around from a marketing perspective is its ease and frequency. Instead of sitting through a 45-minute survey where you never hear from the company again, respondents only take a minute to answer questions, win prizes, and we can touch base with them anytime we want.
Happi CEO Greg Lipper
This micro-survey app enables clients to understand, engage and converse at scale with precisely defined consumer segments.
The surveys are quick and regular, enticing respondents back with opportunities to win prizes and contribute to their favorite causes in return for answering 5-question surveys.
Chief Happiness Officer Lipper said,
We have a relationship based on daily conversations with consumers – not a drive-by survey.
Happi recruits users through alliances with a wide range of charities, teams, clubs, community and student activity groups, offering them a risk-free, cost-free and community-building way to raise funding.
Lipper adds,
This gives businesses and individuals around the world the power to ask precisely profiled consumers what they really want, and then deliver a tailored promotion to them based on those exact preferences, adds Lipper.
Happi’s new self-service portal enables clients to define their segments, check on the number of responders who meet that profile, launch surveys and see their results in interactive reports.
Notes Lipper,
Traditional market research is expensive, complex, and resource intensive, meaning only the largest of Asian companies and multinationals are able to include formal market research in their planning and development. Happi makes market research faster, easier and cheaper so that a broader range of companies can use it. This ‘Research Lite’ approach is the first step on the path to more sophisticated marketing plans and digital engagement strategies for SMEs across the region.
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. The Award for Academic Startups, marking its fourth year, held its presentation ceremony at Tokyo Big Sight’s East Hall 1 on the opening day of “Innovation Japan.” The annual two-day event is sponsored by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) in cooperation with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The 2017 ceremony in particular was special in that the award category came to include an “Early Edge” Award which is for startups that had been launched within the last three years and headed by someone aged 30 years old or younger. The winner of this newly-instituted award was Lily MedTech, headed by Shiho Azuma with support provided by the University of Tokyo. The firm is offering a system for an easier-to-use breast cancer screening based on research results from JST’s Center Of Innovation program. The fact that the young lady CEO’s mother had passed away from breast cancer added extra weight to the need to promote this new technology. Conventional screening methods are detested by women despite the fact that it is a prevalent form of cancer…
This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.
L to R: Takashi Azuma (Prof. of Mechanobio Engineering, the University of Tokyo), Shiho Azuma (CEO of Lily MedTech), Shuichi Matsuda (Chair of Award Selection Committee / Prof. Emeritus, Waseda University)
The winner of this newly-instituted award was Lily MedTech, headed by Shiho Azuma with support provided by the University of Tokyo. The firm is offering a system for an easier-to-use breast cancer screening based on research results from JST’s Center Of Innovation program. The fact that the young lady CEO’s mother had passed away from breast cancer added extra weight to the need to promote this new technology. Conventional screening methods are detested by women despite the fact that it is a prevalent form of cancer which can be life-threatening.
There are some two thousand university-linked startups in Japan but the country is still far behind the US for example in terms of robustness and vigor for this category of startups. The Award for Academic Startups looks to find and highlight technologies based on “own ground” research and development rather than relying on non-Japanese work. Minister Motoo Hayashi in charge of the industry portfolio were among the dignitaries in attendance at the ceremony this year.
Cyfuse Biomedical presented their proprietary 3D bio-printing technology.
Other awards, categorized after the heads of JST, NEDO and the Japan Venture Society as well as the ministers in charge of Education/Science & Technology and of Economy, Trade & Industry, were given to such medical field startups like ORTHOreBIRTH which in tandem with Nagoya Institute of Technology produced an artifical sponge-like bone product – cleared by FDA for use in the United States – as well as Cyfuse Biomedical, along with Saga University, realizing 3D printing of blood vessels and internal organs.
Of interest for me were the power device development plans announced by FLOSFIA as backed by Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo’s Edge Capital plus the development of a new transparent (thermal) insulation material (called SUFA) by tiem factory utilizing Kyoto University research findings and working with materials company YKK AP. The remaining award was given to the University of Tokyo-affiliated PKSHA Technology using an algorithm for furthering Deep Learning.
Benjamin Joffe from Shenzhen-based accelerator HAX shared the latest trends in hardware startups.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Anri, the startup-focused investment fund led by Anri Samata, revealed on Thursday that it has formed Anri Investment Fund Limited Partnership No.3. Participating investors in this fund include Yahoo Japan, SME Support JAPAN, Mizuho Bank, and Seibu Shinkin Bank as well as existing investors such as Mixi, Gree, Adways in addition to Voyage Group. The fund is worth about 6 billion yen, or $55.6 million US. The fund also unveiled that it will form an in-house team with expertise necessary to build and manage companies, aiming to give their portfolio companies intensive follow-on support from the aspects of legal affairs, intellectual property, team management, public relations, marketing strategy, among others, which we have seen at US firms like Andreessen Horowitz offering to their investee companies. The fund currently has two offices in Shibuya (Tokyo’s largest startup neighborhood) and Hongo (near the University of Tokyo), each of which has teams undergoing incubation. It plans to add some locations to nourish more seed startups which are typically comprised of one to three team members. Samata says that his firm has invested in 47 companies through its No.1 and No.2 funds. Renowned investees include UUUM (multichannel…
Tokyo-based Anri, the startup-focused investment fund led by Anri Samata, revealed on Thursday that it has formed Anri Investment Fund Limited Partnership No.3. Participating investors in this fund include Yahoo Japan, SME Support JAPAN, Mizuho Bank, and Seibu Shinkin Bank as well as existing investors such as Mixi, Gree, Adways in addition to Voyage Group. The fund is worth about 6 billion yen, or $55.6 million US.
The fund also unveiled that it will form an in-house team with expertise necessary to build and manage companies, aiming to give their portfolio companies intensive follow-on support from the aspects of legal affairs, intellectual property, team management, public relations, marketing strategy, among others, which we have seen at US firms like Andreessen Horowitz offering to their investee companies. The fund currently has two offices in Shibuya (Tokyo’s largest startup neighborhood) and Hongo (near the University of Tokyo), each of which has teams undergoing incubation. It plans to add some locations to nourish more seed startups which are typically comprised of one to three team members.
Samata says that his firm has invested in 47 companies through its No.1 and No.2 funds. Renowned investees include UUUM (multichannel network offering business opportunities to YouTubers), Raksul (on-demand printing), Coincheck (bitcoin exchange), Coiney (SaaS-based credit card processor), Smart Drive (automobile data tracking), Schoo (online learning for business skills), Kanmu (rewarding platform for credit card holders), Clue (drone service), and Hacosco (instant VR solution). The firm has made an exit regarding five startups from the No.1 fund by selling their stake, namely Mery (women-focused fashion curation site), Mamari (mom-focused Q&A app), U-note (collaborative event summary platform), and Anydoor (crowdsourced translation).
Six years since the establishment of Anri’s first fund, it was Uuum, which IPO-ed on the TSE Mothers Market on August 30th, that began to attract significant attention to the company. Four years ago and before YouTuber-related businesses heated up, Uuum secured seed round funding from Anri and successfully led the Japanese livestreaming sector. According to Uuum’s securities report, Anri has a about 17% stake in the YouTuber management startup.
Samata explained that the company’s style will not change, holding 10% in the seed round, raising that to 15% to commit to the business as the lead investor, and after additional follow-on investment their plan is to keep the final shareholding ratio at about 25%. It is a concept that includes actively engaging in the business without taking over the big corporate decisions.
On one hand, this method requires a lot of work. If we look at the investment style of other funds, the IPO (TSE) ranges from a 10 billion yen ($91M US) to 20 billion ($181M US) yen scale, or with acquisitions the range is in the tens of billions of yen. By making a big commitment to businesses, investors can expect a big return upon exiting, or they can invest many times and take a hands-off approach.
However, at the young age of 33, Samata chose such a thorny path out of the desire to show himself working hard as an entrepreneur. Since the size of the fund increased this time around, the company is prepared to offer up to 500 million yen (about $4.5M US) as a follow-on investment.
The potential of collaborations with ICO funding
Eiji Tsukiyama, CEO of Sapeet, one of Anri’s portfolio companies
Another characteristic of Anri is their belief in aggressive investment in technology-centric seed companies. Some of these examples include Hacosco (instant VR solution) and Smart Drive (car telematrics), as well Sapeet (avatar-based 3D try-on) launched by Eiji Tsukiyama, a student majoring in fluid mechanics at the University of Tokyo. According to Samata’s explanation, although seed companies in these technological and research areas have administrative funding support, for most there is a deep “valley of death” situated between them and a series A round when these startups can finally turn their idea into a market-ready product.
According to Samata’s explanation, although seed companies in these technological and research areas have administrative funding support, for most there is a deep “valley of death” situated between them and a series A round when startups can finally turn their idea into a market-ready product.
Masahiro Sameshima, a partner participating in Anri, is originally from the University of Tokyo’s Edge Capital and has a deep knowledge of technical fields. Nonetheless, seed investment is difficult in that there is no guarantee of success 100% of the time.
I asked Samata about the possibility of using ICO (Initial Coin Offering) funding, which has become increasingly popular recently. In the US there is information that firms like Union Square Ventures and Winklevoss Capital are seeking to form a “hybrid” with VC funding.
In regards to this, Samata expressed his thoughts by referencing the investments in Branch, a matching service for children with developmental disorders and experts.
I believe a fund is a product of venture capital. For example, I, myself, am donating 10 million yen annually, but the problems that can be solved in the non-profit and for profit sectors are different. However, at first glance, it looks like even problems that can only be solved through donations may also be able to use VC funding. Currently information regarding this is being gathered through making donations.
The method of token sales is also fundraising, which also leads to the possibility of exit (management buy-out for entrepreneurs and, in some cases, dividends) for investors and backers.
This is my personal opinion, but I think that the destiny of the stock market includes always being under pressure from shareholders to “rise”. However, it is difficult to confirm every company involved in social activities, such as the above-mentioned Branch, with their advanced technologies in specialized areas, as a “rising” one. If the business is rich in variety, it stands to reason they should have more funding and exit options.
While the conversation never drifted to the discussion of concrete information this time around, Samata definitely demonstrated his deep knowledge of token sales. Anri aims to support 100 companies with their 3rd fund.
Translated by Amanda Imasaka Edited by Masaru Ikeda
Takeshi Hirano
Masaru Ikeda
The Bridge
The winner of this newly-instituted award was 
