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Japan Airlines launches $70M fund for business collaboration with startups

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See the orignal story in Japanese. Japan Airlines (JAL) announced on Thursday that it is forming a new fund focused on investing in startups in Japan and the rest of the world, called Japan Airlines Innovation Fund. Aiming to provide value propositions to various life scenes of consumers, JAL wants to create new businesses by offering comprehensive air mobility services as well as new means of transport and their user experiences through the fund. In this scheme, Silicon Valley-based Translink Capital provides deal sourcing, investment execution, and hands-on support for investees. JAL has supported startup conferences by offering complimentary miles to entrepreneurs flying aboard leveraging the airliner’s mileage program. Aiming to collaborate with 100 startups, the company launched a innovation lab facility near their their headquarters in Tokyo last May. In view of JAL’s involvement in the startup community, they have invested in iSpace, the startup behind the Hakuto team which took part in the Google-sponsored Lunar Xprize race, by participating in their series A funding round back in late 2017. In addition, JAL introduced Comuoon hearing assistance device to their customer counter on a trial basis back in 2015. Comuoon won the Morning Pitch yearend edition in 2017. Looking…

Image credit: 123RF

See the orignal story in Japanese.

Japan Airlines (JAL) announced on Thursday that it is forming a new fund focused on investing in startups in Japan and the rest of the world, called Japan Airlines Innovation Fund. Aiming to provide value propositions to various life scenes of consumers, JAL wants to create new businesses by offering comprehensive air mobility services as well as new means of transport and their user experiences through the fund. In this scheme, Silicon Valley-based Translink Capital provides deal sourcing, investment execution, and hands-on support for investees.

JAL has supported startup conferences by offering complimentary miles to entrepreneurs flying aboard leveraging the airliner’s mileage program. Aiming to collaborate with 100 startups, the company launched a innovation lab facility near their their headquarters in Tokyo last May.

In view of JAL’s involvement in the startup community, they have invested in iSpace, the startup behind the Hakuto team which took part in the Google-sponsored Lunar Xprize race, by participating in their series A funding round back in late 2017. In addition, JAL introduced Comuoon hearing assistance device to their customer counter on a trial basis back in 2015. Comuoon won the Morning Pitch yearend edition in 2017.

Looking at how the Japanese aviation industry working with startups, All Nippon Airways (ANA) has launched their own crowdfunding site as well as hosting a global avatar development competition in addition to sponsoring startup conferences. They have participated in the series C round of space debris removal startup Astroscale, and recently announced the participation in α Trackers (Alpha Trackers), the research consortium led by Japanese VC Global Brain for corporate venture capitals.

From a global point of view, Lufthansa Innovation Hub, Lufthansa Cargo, and Star Alliance have respectively partnered with Plug and Play to explore collaboration with startups.

Japanese crowdsourced translation startup Gengo acquired by Lionbridge

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based crowdsourced translation startup Gengo announced on Thursday that it has been acquired by Lionbridge Technologies. Financial terms on the deal have not been disclosed. Gengo was founded back in 2009 by Robert Laing and Matthew Romaine. Laing served the company as CEO in their early days while the position was handed over to Romaine in 2015. They have raised more than $26 million from Atomico, Intel Capital, 500 Startups and other investors. Since its launch back in 1996, Lionbridge has been globally offering translation and localization services, now in 27 countries. They were listed on NASDAQ back in 1997 but then delisted when they were acquired by private equity firm H.I.G. Capital for $360 million. The acquisition at this time is the first for Lionbridge following H.I.G. Capital’s purchase of them in May 2017. Lionbridge says Romaine and the rest of the Gengo team will join Lionbridge post transaction and assume key leadership roles in the company. It appears that Lionbridge will send someone to the board of Gengo’s directors. In 2018, Gengo launched GengoAI, a learning data platform for natural data processing-focused AI development, which has been fully leveraged by their existing…

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based crowdsourced translation startup Gengo announced on Thursday that it has been acquired by Lionbridge Technologies. Financial terms on the deal have not been disclosed.

Gengo was founded back in 2009 by Robert Laing and Matthew Romaine. Laing served the company as CEO in their early days while the position was handed over to Romaine in 2015. They have raised more than $26 million from Atomico, Intel Capital, 500 Startups and other investors.

Since its launch back in 1996, Lionbridge has been globally offering translation and localization services, now in 27 countries. They were listed on NASDAQ back in 1997 but then delisted when they were acquired by private equity firm H.I.G. Capital for $360 million. The acquisition at this time is the first for Lionbridge following H.I.G. Capital’s purchase of them in May 2017.

Lionbridge says Romaine and the rest of the Gengo team will join Lionbridge post transaction and assume key leadership roles in the company. It appears that Lionbridge will send someone to the board of Gengo’s directors.

In 2018, Gengo launched GengoAI, a learning data platform for natural data processing-focused AI development, which has been fully leveraged by their existing translation services. The platform is expected to strengthen Lionbridge’s position in the machine learning and content relevance markets.

Tokyo-based Conyac, another Japanese translation startup launched around the same time with Gengo, was acquired for $14 million by Japanese translation service giant Rosetta back in August of 2018. Our readers may also recall that Korean translation tech startup Flitto has raised funding from Colopl Next for market expansion into the Japanese market.

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via PR TIMES
via Lionbridge Technologies

American Express buys Japanese restaurant reservation startup Pocket Concierge

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Pocket Concierge, the Japanese startup offering an online restaurant reservation platform under the same name, has been fully acquired by American Express (Amex). Financial terms regarding the deal has not been disclosed. The platform was founded in March of 2013 by Kei Tokado who was has experience in the restaurant business, including time as a restaurant chef (the company’s name was Pocket Menu at the time). Based on the quality of menu and service as well as concept and their chef’s thought, more than 800 restaurants have been carefully selected according to the platform’s proprietary standards. With the acquisition by Amex, Pocket Concierge will be more focused on providing their card holders with access to Japanese premium restaurants. However, even after the acquisition, the platform is expected to continue offering their existing services to anyone regardless of whether or not he/she is an Amex member. It’s not clear about how much money the company has fundraised to date. Their investors partcipating in past rounds include Adways, Allied Architects, 500 Startup Japan, Monex Ventures, iMercury Capital, Line, Nippon Venture Capital, Fuji Startup Ventures, and Isetan Mitsukoshi Innovations. See also: Japan’s Pocket Concierge starts accepting…

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Pocket Concierge, the Japanese startup offering an online restaurant reservation platform under the same name, has been fully acquired by American Express (Amex). Financial terms regarding the deal has not been disclosed.

The platform was founded in March of 2013 by Kei Tokado who was has experience in the restaurant business, including time as a restaurant chef (the company’s name was Pocket Menu at the time). Based on the quality of menu and service as well as concept and their chef’s thought, more than 800 restaurants have been carefully selected according to the platform’s proprietary standards.

With the acquisition by Amex, Pocket Concierge will be more focused on providing their card holders with access to Japanese premium restaurants. However, even after the acquisition, the platform is expected to continue offering their existing services to anyone regardless of whether or not he/she is an Amex member.

It’s not clear about how much money the company has fundraised to date. Their investors partcipating in past rounds include Adways, Allied Architects, 500 Startup Japan, Monex Ventures, iMercury Capital, Line, Nippon Venture Capital, Fuji Startup Ventures, and Isetan Mitsukoshi Innovations.

See also:

Translated by Masaru Ikeda

Japanese deep learning startup Abeja raises series C extension round from Google

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Abeja, the company offering solutions for retail stores to improve customer path or traffic based on image analysis and machine learning technologies, announced on Tuesday that it has secured funding from Google in a series C extension round. The company says this brings their total equity funding to date to over 6 billion yen (approximately US$53 million US). The company hasn’t disclosed financial terms on the latest round from Google but it can be estimated worth 1 billion yen or 10 million US based on their past funding records. Abeja has provided their AI-powered analytics suite Abeja Platform to more than 150 companies while over 520 stores at more than 100 companies have adopted Abeja Insight for Retail, their retail industry store analysis solution. See also: Science fiction becomes reality? Abeja unveils futuristic ad at Tokyo’s busiest station Founded in September of 2012, followed by graduation from the 1st batch of the Orange Fab Asia acceleration program, Abeja has raised an undisclosed sum in an angel and a seed round. Subsequently, the company has raised six figures in US dollars from Salesforce in a series A round back in 2014, followed by securing…

Abeja CEO/CTO Yosuke Okada explains about Abeja Platform Partner Ecosystem
(Photographed at Docomo Innovation Village in November of 2016)
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Abeja, the company offering solutions for retail stores to improve customer path or traffic based on image analysis and machine learning technologies, announced on Tuesday that it has secured funding from Google in a series C extension round. The company says this brings their total equity funding to date to over 6 billion yen (approximately US$53 million US). The company hasn’t disclosed financial terms on the latest round from Google but it can be estimated worth 1 billion yen or 10 million US based on their past funding records.

Abeja has provided their AI-powered analytics suite Abeja Platform to more than 150 companies while over 520 stores at more than 100 companies have adopted Abeja Insight for Retail, their retail industry store analysis solution.

See also:

Founded in September of 2012, followed by graduation from the 1st batch of the Orange Fab Asia acceleration program, Abeja has raised an undisclosed sum in an angel and a seed round. Subsequently, the company has raised six figures in US dollars from Salesforce in a series A round back in 2014, followed by securing 700 million yen (about $7 million at the exchange rate then) in a series B round from INCJ, Archetype, Inspire-PNB Partners back in 2016 as well as securing 4.25 billion yen ($38.4 million at the exchange rate then) in a series C round from 9 investors including VC firms and business companies back in June this year.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japanese medical diagnostic imaging startup LPixel raises $27 million

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based LPixel, the Japanese startup behind AI-powered medical image diagnostic support technologies, recently announced that it has raised about 3 billion yen (about $27 million US) in October. Participating investors include Olympus, Fujifilm and Cyberdyne. The company will use this funding to strengthen development of proprietary technologies to support a medical diagnostic imaging system called EIRL, in addition to marketing efforts and team structure enhancement. Spun off from the University of Tokyo, LPixel has been developing image analysis technologies specifically focused on the life science space. In partnership with the University of Tokyo, National Cancer Center Japan and other medical institutions, the company has been focused on medical diagnostic imaging R&D. They are reportedly in talks with the companies participating in this round for potential business partnerships. via PR TIMES Translated by Masaru Ikeda Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Image credit: LPixel

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based LPixel, the Japanese startup behind AI-powered medical image diagnostic support technologies, recently announced that it has raised about 3 billion yen (about $27 million US) in October. Participating investors include Olympus, Fujifilm and Cyberdyne. The company will use this funding to strengthen development of proprietary technologies to support a medical diagnostic imaging system called EIRL, in addition to marketing efforts and team structure enhancement.

Spun off from the University of Tokyo, LPixel has been developing image analysis technologies specifically focused on the life science space. In partnership with the University of Tokyo, National Cancer Center Japan and other medical institutions, the company has been focused on medical diagnostic imaging R&D. They are reportedly in talks with the companies participating in this round for potential business partnerships.

via PR TIMES

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

How Japanese startups can help digital transformation efforts of Thai enterprises

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This guest post is authored by Hiroko Mamoto, Public Retalations at Bangkok-based recruiting platform startup TalentEx. Some of our coverage about TalentEx can be found here and there. See the originl story in Jaapnese. In partnership with Omise and Abeja – two outstanding and rapidly-growing startups in Southeast Asia led by Japanese entrepreneurs, the Japanese embassy in Thailand recently hosted a conference called Digital Transformation Summit (DX Summit for short) at the headquarters of Thai top property developer Ananda Development. The conference is a part of “Open Innovation Columbus (OIC)” through which the Japanese government and Thai conglomerates encourage strategic alliances between innovative Japanese startups and the Thai conglomerates. Approximately 50 representatives from 30 Thai conglomerates participated in the first summit, along with 30 representatives from 30 major companies from Japan. In addition to government officials and media from both countries, Global Brain CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto and KK Fund General Partner Koichi Saito also participated. See also: Columbus charts course (Bangkok Post) Thailand, Japan join hands to develop local startups (Bangkok Post) เอกอัครราชทูตญี่ปุ่นประจำประเทศไทยสนับสนุน Start-up ญี่ปุ่น ลงทุนในไทย (Royal Thai Government) OIC was launched with the goal of developing successful Japanese startups around the world and to meet the demand for state-of-the-art…

Hiroko Mamoto

This guest post is authored by Hiroko Mamoto, Public Retalations at Bangkok-based recruiting platform startup TalentEx.

Some of our coverage about TalentEx can be found here and there.

The participants of the DX Summit. Japan’s Ambassador to Thailand Shiro Sadoshima stands in the center.
Image credit: Hiroko Mamoto

See the originl story in Jaapnese.

In partnership with Omise and Abeja – two outstanding and rapidly-growing startups in Southeast Asia led by Japanese entrepreneurs, the Japanese embassy in Thailand recently hosted a conference called Digital Transformation Summit (DX Summit for short) at the headquarters of Thai top property developer Ananda Development. The conference is a part of “Open Innovation Columbus (OIC)” through which the Japanese government and Thai conglomerates encourage strategic alliances between innovative Japanese startups and the Thai conglomerates.

Approximately 50 representatives from 30 Thai conglomerates participated in the first summit, along with 30 representatives from 30 major companies from Japan. In addition to government officials and media from both countries, Global Brain CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto and KK Fund General Partner Koichi Saito also participated.

See also:

OIC was launched with the goal of developing successful Japanese startups around the world and to meet the demand for state-of-the-art technology from the conglomerates lead by ASEAN. The Japanese government serves as mediator between the concerned parties, providing enriching support content such as matching and follow-ups, funds for expanding business in Thailand, and mentoring with Japanese entrepreneurs on the ground in Thailand.

Naoki Tonogi, CEO of Abeja Singapore
Image credit: Hiroko Mamoto

The theme of this year’s DX Summit was AI (artificial intelligence) and blockchain, and one aim was to have designated knowledgeable persons assist the representatives from Thai conglomerates in gaining a deeper understanding of digital technology. Abeja Singapore Representative Naoki Tonogi and Omise Holdings CEO Jun Hasegawa served as speakers during the seminar.

Tonogi spoke passionately about technology up to present day that did not yet have AI, and how AI is innovative by answering the straightforward question, “What is AI?” He also introduced practical examples of AI provided by Abeja, and based on those, he discussed the future of AI technology and market considerations.

Jun Hasegawa, CE of Omise Holdings
Image credit: Hiroko Mamoto

Hasegawa in turn used an explanation of products offered by Omise to showcase concrete examples of how blockchain can be used. His explanation included a basic outline, as well as the characteristics and merits of blockchain technology, and participants gains further understanding through question and answer time.

See also:

Japan’s Ambassador to Thailand, Shiro Sadoshima, imparted these words following the DX Summit.

I anticipate positive results through the cooperation of the decidedly flexible Thai companies and the technology and speed of Japanese startups.

Omise’s Hasegawa, who also serves as Chairman of the Japan-ASEAN Innovation Support Network (JAIS) [1] , related the following.

Just through breaching language barriers/ culture barriers/ market barriers, the methods of doing business can be improved. This is why, even as an entrepreneur myself who can understand the pain of doing business abroad, I’d like to continue to support events such as this which provide a space to connect with local companies.

Prior to the OIC, Sadoshima meets with Thai Prime Minister Kobsak Pootrakool to discuss cooperative relations

Prior to the OIC, Japanese Ambassador Sadoshima meets with Thai Prime Minister Kobsak Pootrakool to discuss cooperative relations.
Image credit: Office of the Prime Minister, Thailand

Representatives from the Thai conglomerates also shared their positive impressions of the seminar.

Thanapong Na Ranong, First Senior Vice President of Kasikornbank / Managing Director of Kasikornbank’s investment arm Beacon Venture Capital, says,

I am very excited about this event and any future efforts. As the cultures of Japan and Thailand are very close, I expect good outcomes. After listening to today’s seminar, I’d like to try out the technologies with robots first.

Lena Ng, Chief Investment Officer at Amata Corporation, says,

We are developing a smart city in an industrial area, and there are many Japanese companies in the industrial area managed by our company. We believe we can use AI and blockchain technology to develop smart business in our industrial area, and this is why we’d like to incorporate it.

OIC plans to hold pitch events and arrange matching opportunities for Thai conglomerates and Japanese startups within the year.

Translated by Amanda Imasaka
Edited by Masaru Ikeda


  1. There are separate organizations for each country under JAIS: JTIS (Japan-Thailand), JMIS (Japan-Malaysia), JVIS (Japan-Vietnam), JIIS (Japan-Indonesia), JPIS (Japan-Philippines), JSIS (Japan-Singapore). For more information on the initiations of the first organization, JTIS, please see here.

Japan’s MakeLeaps, cloud-based invoicing startup, announces acquisition by Ricoh

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based MakeLeaps, the startup behind a cloud-based invoicing platform under the same name, announced on Friday that it has agreed to be acquired by Japanese photocopier giant Ricoh (TSE:7752). The acquisition price is not disclosed but Nikkei estimated it to be tens of million US dollars in their report. Ricoh is scheduled to complete acquiring all MakeLeaps shares on November 30. As far as has been disclosed, MakeLeaps raised several million US dollars from Rakuten Ventures in a series A round back in July of 2016, an undisclosed sum from Kima Ventures (a seed startup-focused fund led by renowned French entrepreneur Xavier Niel) in a seed round back in September of 2014, plus $600,000 from AngelList, Dave McClure and other investors in an angel round back in August of 2014. See also: Cloud-based invoicing startup MakeLeaps wins IE-KMD Venture Day in Tokyo Since its launch in October 2011 by Australian serial entrepreneur Jay (Jason) Winder, MakeLeaps has been offering an invoicing platform that targets freelancers as well as small/medium-sized enterprises. Their users can simplify and streamline their process of issuing estimates, purchase orders, bills, receipts, etc. in addition to even mailing all these to…

01e

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based MakeLeaps, the startup behind a cloud-based invoicing platform under the same name, announced on Friday that it has agreed to be acquired by Japanese photocopier giant Ricoh (TSE:7752). The acquisition price is not disclosed but Nikkei estimated it to be tens of million US dollars in their report. Ricoh is scheduled to complete acquiring all MakeLeaps shares on November 30.

As far as has been disclosed, MakeLeaps raised several million US dollars from Rakuten Ventures in a series A round back in July of 2016, an undisclosed sum from Kima Ventures (a seed startup-focused fund led by renowned French entrepreneur Xavier Niel) in a seed round back in September of 2014, plus $600,000 from AngelList, Dave McClure and other investors in an angel round back in August of 2014.

See also:

bdash-camp-2015-pitch-arena-makeleaps-2
MakeLeaps CEO Jay Winder delivers his pitch at B Dash Camp 2015 Spring in Fukuoka.
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

Since its launch in October 2011 by Australian serial entrepreneur Jay (Jason) Winder, MakeLeaps has been offering an invoicing platform that targets freelancers as well as small/medium-sized enterprises. Their users can simplify and streamline their process of issuing estimates, purchase orders, bills, receipts, etc. in addition to even mailing all these to their clients.

According to Ricoh’s announcement, the company expects to integrate MakeLeaps solutions to its photocopiers and multi-functional printing machines while adding on to various third-party systems for customer management, accounting and sales management, aiming to transform into a B2B platform operator by helping enterprises digitalize their workflows. MakeLeaps CEO Winder says in his statement that there will be no change in service offerings and terms of delivery even after the acquisition.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

 

Japan’s Meltin MMI raises $18M to further develop avatar robots, medical devices

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See the original story in Japanese. Japanese robotics startup Meltin MMI announced today it has raised 2.02 billion yen (about $18 million US) from Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (TSE:4506), SBI Investment and Daiichi Life Insurance (TSE:8750) in a series B round. For Meltin this follows their seed round funding (the amount raised not disclosed) from Euglena SMBC Nikko Leave-a-Nest Capital and Globalink back in January of 2016 and their series A round funding (raised about $2.1 million US) from Realtech Fund, Mirai Creation Fund (by Toyota and SMBC) and the Japanese Organization for Medical Device Development (JOMDD). Meltin was born out from the incubator belonging to the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo to develop cyborg technologies using bio-signals and robotics. Since its launch back in July of 2013, the company has been primarily focused on R&D and commercialization of medical and welfare equipment, avatar robots and other devices ー extending people’s physical ability. Integrating bio-signal processing technologies that accurately analyze the human’s body movements and intention with robot mechanisms that faithfully reproduce those movements in the real world, the company aims to realize the practical level of Brain Machine Interface (BMI) and cyborg. Meltin uses the funds raised to accelerate development…

meltin-mmi-team
From left: Mizuki Komasa (Auditor / Director-Elect, Meltin MMI), Shigeyuki Nishinaka (Executive Officer, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma), Yuki Tazaki (CCO, Meltin MMI), Masahiro Kasuya (CEO of Meltin MMI), Takahiro Uchida (Director, Meltin MMI), Tatsuya Seki (CTO, Meltin MMI), Ryota Oike (CFO, Meltin MMI)
Image credit:Meltin MMI

See the original story in Japanese.

Japanese robotics startup Meltin MMI announced today it has raised 2.02 billion yen (about $18 million US) from Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (TSE:4506), SBI Investment and Daiichi Life Insurance (TSE:8750) in a series B round. For Meltin this follows their seed round funding (the amount raised not disclosed) from Euglena SMBC Nikko Leave-a-Nest Capital and Globalink back in January of 2016 and their series A round funding (raised about $2.1 million US) from Realtech Fund, Mirai Creation Fund (by Toyota and SMBC) and the Japanese Organization for Medical Device Development (JOMDD).

Meltin was born out from the incubator belonging to the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo to develop cyborg technologies using bio-signals and robotics. Since its launch back in July of 2013, the company has been primarily focused on R&D and commercialization of medical and welfare equipment, avatar robots and other devices ー extending people’s physical ability. Integrating bio-signal processing technologies that accurately analyze the human’s body movements and intention with robot mechanisms that faithfully reproduce those movements in the real world, the company aims to realize the practical level of Brain Machine Interface (BMI) and cyborg.

Meltin uses the funds raised to accelerate development of the practical model of Meltant, the company’s flagship and remotely operable avatar robot, as well as medical devices.

The company won the Startup Division award at Realtech Venture of the Year by Leave a Nest back in March of 2016, followed by winning the audience’s choice of exhibitor at Microsoft Innovation Award back in May of 2016.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japan’s Metro Engines raises $6.3M, offers hotels with AI-powered pricing optimization

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Metro Engines, the Japanese startup offering Dynamic Pricing functions for hotels leveraging Deep Learning-powered demand forecast, announced today that it has raised 700 million yen (about $6.3 million US) from SBI Investment, NEC Capital Solution, Evolable Asia, JR East Start Up, Tap, Vector, Venture Labo Investment and Kiyohiro Sugashita. The latest funding follows the previous one raising estimated several million US dollars from Beenos back in December of 2016. Metro Engines will use the funds to increase the number of engineers and data scientists up to about 100, aiming to improve the accuracy of the dynamic pricing technology and accelerate business expansion using it. Metro Engines has developed a tool that allows hotel to set pricing leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning based on real-time Big Data. It collects Big Data regarding booking behaviors of hotel guests, and provides AI-powered analysis and optimized room pricing based on real-time data. By repeatedly verifying whether or not the suggested pricing is appropriate with Deep Learning, it can help hotels improve work efficiency and customer’s experience as well as reduce cost. The company claims dozens of notable hotel chains in Japan have decided to adopt it….

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Metro Engines, the Japanese startup offering Dynamic Pricing functions for hotels leveraging Deep Learning-powered demand forecast, announced today that it has raised 700 million yen (about $6.3 million US) from SBI Investment, NEC Capital Solution, Evolable Asia, JR East Start Up, Tap, Vector, Venture Labo Investment and Kiyohiro Sugashita.

The latest funding follows the previous one raising estimated several million US dollars from Beenos back in December of 2016. Metro Engines will use the funds to increase the number of engineers and data scientists up to about 100, aiming to improve the accuracy of the dynamic pricing technology and accelerate business expansion using it.

Metro Engines has developed a tool that allows hotel to set pricing leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning based on real-time Big Data. It collects Big Data regarding booking behaviors of hotel guests, and provides AI-powered analysis and optimized room pricing based on real-time data. By repeatedly verifying whether or not the suggested pricing is appropriate with Deep Learning, it can help hotels improve work efficiency and customer’s experience as well as reduce cost. The company claims dozens of notable hotel chains in Japan have decided to adopt it.

Metro Engines won the top award at Demo Day of IBM BlueHub’s Open Innovation Program Inbound Travel back in May of 2017. Their competitors include Sora, the Japanese startup behind AI-powered pricing strategy support platforms for hotels called Hotel Hanzuke and MagicPrice.

via PR Times

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japan’s Spectee, news video aggregator for press, ready for North America expansion

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This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. Spectee, at an OrangeFab meetup in Tokyo outlining the program in Asia, noted that from September it will start expanding its presence abroad — most likely in the U.S. which has been the amateur-based newsfeed firm’s largest market. Founder & CEO Kenjiro Murakami worked at a Silicon Valley major prior to starting up Spectee, under a different name. The Tokyo firm is a second batch (the first which covered Japan, Korea and Taiwan) graduate of the accelerator run by the European telecom concern Orange. Spectee will showcase its service at an Austin, Texas confab next month to mark the launch of its active foray into North America. Many competing services are headquartered on this continent. The Japanese startup not only handles copyright management issues for the image data but applies Artificial Intelligence (AI) upon finding and matching the requisite data. It was underscored that by 2020 the Internet will be some 44 ZB (zettabytes) of information floating out on cyberspace, beyond the capacity of a normal human brain alone to thresh through. See also: Japan’s social news aggregator for press…

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


Spectee CEO Kenjiro Murakami introduces his service at a recent OrangeFab Asia meet-up.
Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

Spectee, at an OrangeFab meetup in Tokyo outlining the program in Asia, noted that from September it will start expanding its presence abroad — most likely in the U.S. which has been the amateur-based newsfeed firm’s largest market. Founder & CEO Kenjiro Murakami worked at a Silicon Valley major prior to starting up Spectee, under a different name.

The Tokyo firm is a second batch (the first which covered Japan, Korea and Taiwan) graduate of the accelerator run by the European telecom concern Orange. Spectee will showcase its service at an Austin, Texas confab next month to mark the launch of its active foray into North America. Many competing services are headquartered on this continent.

The Japanese startup not only handles copyright management issues for the image data but applies Artificial Intelligence (AI) upon finding and matching the requisite data. It was underscored that by 2020 the Internet will be some 44 ZB (zettabytes) of information floating out on cyberspace, beyond the capacity of a normal human brain alone to thresh through.

See also:

Spectee is currently working with Associated Press (AP) among other press organizations to disseminate its visual newsfeed network. Its system is also armed with multiple patents, which is rare for a startup with less than ten years of history, to be applied in expanding into new areas beyond the news field.

In addition to the Spectee talk, OrangeFab outlined its past efforts and announced it was ready to accept applications for the next program term from entrepreneurs. Creww also provided a spiel about the venue it runs (dubbed “docks”), which is a mid-Tokyo open innovation incubation and coworking space near Tokyo Tower, being used for the event series.

Earlier last month, Uzabase — offering the NewsPicks service and tied up with Dow Jones in the U.S. — announced its intention to buy digital-only business news service Quartz from Atlantic Media. Assuming the approximately month-long U.S. government approval goes smoothly, the Tokyo company can expect to be the new Quartz provider.