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SpaceData develops AI that can create digital twin of entire planet, raises $10M+ in seed round

The Bridge 2022.08.03

Tokyo-based SpaceData, the Japanese startup developing artificial intelligence that can create a Digital Twin of the Earth from Satellite Data, announced on Wednesday that it has secured 1.42 billion yen (over $10 million US) in a seed round. Participating investors are Spiral Capital, Sparx Innovation for Future, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, GREE Ventures, The Creative Fund, Headline Asia, MZ Web3 Fund in addition to three angel investors: Jo Hirao (CEO of Zigexn), Hiroshi Tomishima (Co-founder of Mercari), and Yusaku Maezawa (Founder of Zozo). SpaceData was founded in January of 2017 by serial entrepreneur Katsuaki Sato, also known as the founder of Japanese tech company Metaps (TSE:6172) and running several startups. The company has developed AI-based technologies that can generates virtual worlds (digital twin) using satellite data and 3DCG technology. Using machine learning on geostationary images of the ground and terrain data from satellites, the platform can automatically detect, classify, and organize objects on the ground, and generate their 3D models with detailed texture using 3DCG technology. The company’s algorithm excels at automatically generating 3D models from a human perspective, which is something that conventional 3D globe tools (such as Google Earth) are not very good at. This makes it easier…

Tokyo-based SpaceData, the Japanese startup developing artificial intelligence that can create a Digital Twin of the Earth from Satellite Data, announced on Wednesday that it has secured 1.42 billion yen (over $10 million US) in a seed round. Participating investors are Spiral Capital, Sparx Innovation for Future, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, GREE Ventures, The Creative Fund, Headline Asia, MZ Web3 Fund in addition to three angel investors: Jo Hirao (CEO of Zigexn), Hiroshi Tomishima (Co-founder of Mercari), and Yusaku Maezawa (Founder of Zozo).

SpaceData was founded in January of 2017 by serial entrepreneur Katsuaki Sato, also known as the founder of Japanese tech company Metaps (TSE:6172) and running several startups. The company has developed AI-based technologies that can generates virtual worlds (digital twin) using satellite data and 3DCG technology. Using machine learning on geostationary images of the ground and terrain data from satellites, the platform can automatically detect, classify, and organize objects on the ground, and generate their 3D models with detailed texture using 3DCG technology.

The company’s algorithm excels at automatically generating 3D models from a human perspective, which is something that conventional 3D globe tools (such as Google Earth) are not very good at. This makes it easier to be adopted into applications such as VR (virtual technology), games, and video production, where people move around in 3D space from a human perspective. The company claims that the generated digital twin data can meet the rapidly growing demand for metaverse in various industries, including entertainment, autonomous driving, urban development, disaster prevention, and defense.

via PR Times

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Soundraw, AI music composer from Japan, secures $1.4M to boost global expansion effort

The Bridge 2022.07.29

Tokyo-based Soundraw, the Japanese startup behind an AI-powered music composing service under the same name, announced on Thursday that it has secured 180 million yen (about $1.4 million US) in the latest funding round. Participating investors are Ceres (TSE:3696), Mint, iSGS Investment Works, SMBC Venture Capital, and Deepcore. For the company, this follows their seed round (securing 65 million yen) in June of 2020 and pre-series A round (securing an undisclosed sum) in March of 2021. Deepcore has also participated in a previous round. Soundraw was founded in February of 2020 by serial entrepreneur Tago Kusunoki. During his university days, Kusunoki twice won the national championship in a university student dance competition. After graduating from Ritsumeikan University graduate school, he worked for a manufacturer and then launched his own company to pursue his dream of creating something by himself. Prior to Soundraw, Kusunoki has developed the SoundMoovz wearable musical instrument gadget based on his dance experience, which has shipped a total of 400,000 units to 17 countries to date. It is common to hear background music in all kinds of videos on YouTube and Facebook, not to mention on TV programs. Creators of these clips usually choose from stock music…

Founder Daigo Kusunoki sits in the center among the Soundraw team.
Image credit: Soundraw

Tokyo-based Soundraw, the Japanese startup behind an AI-powered music composing service under the same name, announced on Thursday that it has secured 180 million yen (about $1.4 million US) in the latest funding round. Participating investors are Ceres (TSE:3696), Mint, iSGS Investment Works, SMBC Venture Capital, and Deepcore. For the company, this follows their seed round (securing 65 million yen) in June of 2020 and pre-series A round (securing an undisclosed sum) in March of 2021. Deepcore has also participated in a previous round.

Soundraw was founded in February of 2020 by serial entrepreneur Tago Kusunoki. During his university days, Kusunoki twice won the national championship in a university student dance competition. After graduating from Ritsumeikan University graduate school, he worked for a manufacturer and then launched his own company to pursue his dream of creating something by himself. Prior to Soundraw, Kusunoki has developed the SoundMoovz wearable musical instrument gadget based on his dance experience, which has shipped a total of 400,000 units to 17 countries to date.

It is common to hear background music in all kinds of videos on YouTube and Facebook, not to mention on TV programs. Creators of these clips usually choose from stock music services just as they choose photos and images from stock photo sites, but this poses a few problems. Unlike photos and images which can be searched for in a list, they have to listen to and check the music one by one to pick the best fit.

The AI composer can help with these needs, there are no copyright issues involved because each of the tunes created is completely original. This approach of creating a new song to match the clip, rather than searching for one in the past, is an interesting shift. Because of its non-verbal user experience making less language barriers, the platform has successfully attracted more users from the overseas. The automated entire process helps them keep gross margin high.

Although the company has conducted no marketing activities in the global market so far, users from the overseas accounts for 37% of the service’s paying user base, mainly from Europe and the United States. They will use the funds to renew their platform’s user interface and experience drastically and increase the variety of music tracks the platform can create. In addition, they have established a Los Angeles office with several local representatives to boost international market effort.

SOUNDRAW won the Pitch Arena competition at the B Dash Camp 2022 Summer startup conference in Sapporo last month.

via PR Times

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ChatBook, developing chatbot and marketing automation tool, acquired by Monex Group

Masaru Ikeda 2022.07.29

We just learned that Japanese startup ChatBook, providing the automated marketing solution under the same name utilizing chatbot, has been acquired by Japan’s leading FinTech conglomerate Monex Group（TSE:8698). Monex acquired all stakes in ChatBook for an undisclosed sum. Chatbook’s most recent funding was a pre-series A round in December of 2019 (securing 100 million yen, about $920,000 in the exchange rate at the time) where Monex Ventures, the VC arm of Monex Group, participated in the investment. Japanese startup database Initial reported ChatBook was valued at 712 million yen (about $6.6 million) at the time. Chatbook was co-founded in September of 2016 (named Hect as its start) by Maiko Kojima who formerly worked for Prime Again (now known as Prime) as CFO/COO. The firm has been chosen for various accelerator programs so far; the first batch of the Code Public program in 2016, Accelerate course of FbStart which is a developer support program by Facebook in 2017 and the first batch of AI Accelerator organized by the major job information provider Dip (TSE:2379). ChatBook uses chatbots compatible with social media like Facebook, Line, and Instagram to lure potential customers and link them to sales activities in conjunction with customer relation…

We just learned that Japanese startup ChatBook, providing the automated marketing solution under the same name utilizing chatbot, has been acquired by Japan’s leading FinTech conglomerate Monex Group（TSE:8698). Monex acquired all stakes in ChatBook for an undisclosed sum.

Chatbook’s most recent funding was a pre-series A round in December of 2019 (securing 100 million yen, about $920,000 in the exchange rate at the time) where Monex Ventures, the VC arm of Monex Group, participated in the investment. Japanese startup database Initial reported ChatBook was valued at 712 million yen (about $6.6 million) at the time.

Chatbook was co-founded in September of 2016 (named Hect as its start) by Maiko Kojima who formerly worked for Prime Again (now known as Prime) as CFO/COO. The firm has been chosen for various accelerator programs so far; the first batch of the Code Public program in 2016, Accelerate course of FbStart which is a developer support program by Facebook in 2017 and the first batch of AI Accelerator organized by the major job information provider Dip (TSE:2379).

ChatBook uses chatbots compatible with social media like Facebook, Line, and Instagram to lure potential customers and link them to sales activities in conjunction with customer relation management tools. While there are several marketing solutions using chatbots in Japan, Chatbook has a high affinity with sales activities for long-legged and rigid business solutions for enterprises.

In this sector, some of our readers may recall that Japanese startup Zeals, developing and offering the Fanp chatbot-based solution for e-commerce retailers, had planned to list on the TSE Mothers market but subsequently decided postpone it due to negative factors such as changes in US monetary policy, IPO market trends, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company recently announced that it has secured 5 billion yen (about $38 million) in May.

Through this acquisition, Monex will invest its management resources in Chatbook, while promoting further business expansion by providing multifaceted support such as sales channel expansion and funding, and will return Chatbook’s human resources, mainly engineers, and the knowledge and know-how gained through business expansion to the Monex. The company will also aim to enhance the digital marketing capabilities of the Monex Group companies by returning to the Monex Group the human resources of Chatbook, mainly engineers, as well as the knowledge and expertise gained through business expansion.

Through this acquisition, Monex expects to invest its management resources in Chatbook while promoting further business expansion by providing support for cultivating sales channels and funding. In addition, the acquisition will also enable the FinTech group to enhance the digital marketing capabilities of each of its subsidiaries by incorporating ChatBook’s human resources, mainly engineers, as well as the knowledge and expertise.

See also:

Japan’s ChatBook secures seed round, helps firms integrate chatbot with Salesforce SFA

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Japan’s Caster, offering WFH jobs for freelance workers, expanding into Germany, UAE

Masaru Ikeda 2022.07.18

Japanese WFH (work-from-home) jobs offering startup Caster, headquartered in the country’s western prefecture of Miyzaki, announced on Friday that it will be expanding into Germany and United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company plans to set up a local office in Berlin and Dubai within this year. Since its launched back in September of 2014, the company offers online assistance service in the categories like secretarial, human resources, accounting, translation, and other corporate tasks for startups and enterprises. The company had 1,500 remote staffers registered as of June while more than 3,000 companies have used the service so far. The company said that it has chosen Germany as its first step for global expansion because the country’s social environment and workforce are similar to those in Japan, which helps the company take advantage of their experience and schemes. With offices in Germany and the UAE, Caster plans to accelerate its expansion effort into the entire European region. The company has already begun recruiting local employees in Berlin and the rest of Germany on the the Japan-Germany Industrial Association website. In February, Caster announced that it has secured 1.3 billion yen (about $11.5 million US in the exchange rate at the time)…

Japanese WFH (work-from-home) jobs offering startup Caster, headquartered in the country’s western prefecture of Miyzaki, announced on Friday that it will be expanding into Germany and United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company plans to set up a local office in Berlin and Dubai within this year.

Since its launched back in September of 2014, the company offers online assistance service in the categories like secretarial, human resources, accounting, translation, and other corporate tasks for startups and enterprises. The company had 1,500 remote staffers registered as of June while more than 3,000 companies have used the service so far.

The company said that it has chosen Germany as its first step for global expansion because the country’s social environment and workforce are similar to those in Japan, which helps the company take advantage of their experience and schemes. With offices in Germany and the UAE, Caster plans to accelerate its expansion effort into the entire European region. The company has already begun recruiting local employees in Berlin and the rest of Germany on the the Japan-Germany Industrial Association website.

In February, Caster announced that it has secured 1.3 billion yen (about $11.5 million US in the exchange rate at the time) in a Series D round, which brought their funding sum up to around 3 billion yen (about $21.5 million US in the exchange rate at the time) on an estimation basis. The Initial startup database estimates the company is valued over 12.3 billion yen (about $89 million US).

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Japanese space robot developer Gitai sets up shop in LA

Gitai

The Bridge 2022.06.28

Tokyo-based Gitai, the Japanese telexistance robotics startup for the space industry, announced last week that it has opened an office in Los Angeles for R&D, manufacturing, and business development. The company will begin recruiting project managers as well as various types of engineers in earnest. They had been conducting all business activities in Tokyo until now. As collaboration with US agencies and private companies like Nanoracks and NASA has increased, including the successful onboard demonstration of their robot to the International Space Station last year, the company has decided to facilitate US operations. Prior to launching Gitai in 2016 (under its previous name of MacroSpace), the company’s founder Sho Nakanose previously worked for IBM Japan followed by founding an IT services company in India and sold it to an Indian company. Some of our readers may recall that Yuto Nakanishi, a humanoid scientist/engineer and former CEO of Schaft (acquied by Google X), joined Gitai as COO (now CRO, Chief Robot Officer). Gitai secured $4.1 million US in a Series A round in July of 2019 followed by 1.8 billion yen (about $17 million US in the exchange rate at the time) in a Series B round in March of 2021.

Gitai US Office in Los Angeles
Image credit: Gitai

Tokyo-based Gitai, the Japanese telexistance robotics startup for the space industry, announced last week that it has opened an office in Los Angeles for R&D, manufacturing, and business development. The company will begin recruiting project managers as well as various types of engineers in earnest. They had been conducting all business activities in Tokyo until now. As collaboration with US agencies and private companies like Nanoracks and NASA has increased, including the successful onboard demonstration of their robot to the International Space Station last year, the company has decided to facilitate US operations.

Prior to launching Gitai in 2016 (under its previous name of MacroSpace), the company’s founder Sho Nakanose previously worked for IBM Japan followed by founding an IT services company in India and sold it to an Indian company. Some of our readers may recall that Yuto Nakanishi, a humanoid scientist/engineer and former CEO of Schaft (acquied by Google X), joined Gitai as COO (now CRO, Chief Robot Officer). Gitai secured $4.1 million US in a Series A round in July of 2019 followed by 1.8 billion yen (about $17 million US in the exchange rate at the time) in a Series B round in March of 2021.

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Japan’s fashion item rental startup AirCloset files for IPO

AirCloset

Sekiko Suzuki 2022.06.24

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based fashion item rental startup AirCloset announced on Friday that its IPO application to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on July 29 with plans to offer 733,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 130,000 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 136,700 shares. The underwriting will be led by Mizuho Securities while AirCloset’s ticker code will be 9557. Its share price range will be released on July 11 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on July 12 and pricing on July 19. The final public offering price will be determined on July 20. Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 870 yen (about $6.5) per share, its market cap is approximately 6.4 billion yen (about $47.5 million). According to its consolidated statement as of June of 2021, the company posted revenue of 2.89 billion yen ($21.4 million) with an ordinary profit of 29.35 million yen ($217,000). Since its launch back in July of 2014, AirCloset has been offering a variety of fashion item rental services. Starting with a monthly subscription-based service delivering outfits coordinated by professional stylists, the…

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based fashion item rental startup AirCloset announced on Friday that its IPO application to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved.

The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on July 29 with plans to offer 733,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 130,000 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 136,700 shares. The underwriting will be led by Mizuho Securities while AirCloset’s ticker code will be 9557.

Its share price range will be released on July 11 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on July 12 and pricing on July 19. The final public offering price will be determined on July 20.

Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 870 yen (about $6.5) per share, its market cap is approximately 6.4 billion yen (about $47.5 million). According to its consolidated statement as of June of 2021, the company posted revenue of 2.89 billion yen ($21.4 million) with an ordinary profit of 29.35 million yen ($217,000).

Since its launch back in July of 2014, AirCloset has been offering a variety of fashion item rental services. Starting with a monthly subscription-based service delivering outfits coordinated by professional stylists, the company launched a physcal store in October of 2016 followed by a monthly subscription-based rental mall service back in April of 2020.

Led by founder and CEO Satoshi Amanuma (17.8%), the company’s major shareholders include Monoful Pte. Ltd. (14.28%), Terrada Warehouse (10.92%), Sumitomo Corporation (10.3%, TSE: 8053) , SIG Asia Fund IV, LLLP (10.30%), Jafco (8.75%, TSE: 8595), managing director Yusuke Maekawa (4.01%), Samurai Incubate (3.50%), managing director Shoichi Kotani (2.06%), SMBC Venture Capital (2.06%), and Nakazono Holdings (2.04%, operator of “White Kyubin” laundry shop chain).

See also:

Boasting over 70,000 users, Japan’s fashion item rental service AirCloset snags $8M

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Japan’s AI-powered contract management startup LegalForce secures $100M+ in series D

LegalForce

The Bridge 2022.06.24

Tokyo-based LegalForce announced on Thursday that it has secured approximately 13.7 billion yen (over $101.6 million US) in a Series D round. The round is led by by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 with participation from Sequoia China, Goldman Sachs, WiL (World Innovaion Lab, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and others. WiL, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital followed their previous investment. The latest round brought the startup’s funding sumup to approximately 17.9 billion yen (over $132.8 million US). LegalForce has been offering two SaaS tools: LegalForce and LegalForce Cabinet. LegalForce uses natural language processing and other technologies to offer functions such as reviewing contracts according the type of agreement, detecting clauses that may be omitted or risky in addition to prevent omissions and oversights. Sine its launch back in April of 2019, the service has been serving more than 2,000 companies and law firms. Regarding LegalForce Cabinet, when you upload contracts/documents into it, its artificial intelligence will automatically read titles, names of contracting parties, and contract expiration date to create a ledger of them. As of June, the service is used by over 450 companies.

The LegalForce team
Image credit: LegalForce

Tokyo-based LegalForce announced on Thursday that it has secured approximately 13.7 billion yen (over $101.6 million US) in a Series D round.

The round is led by by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 with participation from Sequoia China, Goldman Sachs, WiL (World Innovaion Lab, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and others. WiL, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital followed their previous investment. The latest round brought the startup’s funding sumup to approximately 17.9 billion yen (over $132.8 million US).

LegalForce has been offering two SaaS tools: LegalForce and LegalForce Cabinet.

LegalForce uses natural language processing and other technologies to offer functions such as reviewing contracts according the type of agreement, detecting clauses that may be omitted or risky in addition to prevent omissions and oversights. Sine its launch back in April of 2019, the service has been serving more than 2,000 companies and law firms.

Regarding LegalForce Cabinet, when you upload contracts/documents into it, its artificial intelligence will automatically read titles, names of contracting parties, and contract expiration date to create a ledger of them. As of June, the service is used by over 450 companies.

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Wassha raises $8.2M to diversify business beyond power supply in off-grid Africa

Wassha

The Bridge 2022.06.12

Tokyo-based Wassha, building a retail platform by networking local kiosks in rural Africa, announced on Friday that it has raised $1.14 billion yen (about $8.2 million US) in a series C round. Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Daikin Industries (TSE: 6367), Mistletoe Japan, Yamaha Motor (TSE: 7272), and the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) participated in this round. UTEC also participated in Wassha’s series A and series B rounds while Daikin Industries, Mistletoe Japan, and Yamaha Motor follow on their investments from the startup’s series B round. The latest round brought their funding sum up to date to approximately 3.5 billion yen (about $26 million yen). Wassha was founded in November of 2013 under its previous name of Digital Grid. The company first started its business with a prepaid solar power delivery service to off-grid areas. In this service, solar panels and rechargeable batteries are installed at affiliated kiosks in rural villages without electricity, and LED lanterns, radios, tablets and other household appliances are provided for rent free of charge. The kiosk rents these appliances to village residents who visit the kiosk and pay fees by mobile to return an empty battery and receive get a charged one on a…

Tokyo-based Wassha, building a retail platform by networking local kiosks in rural Africa, announced on Friday that it has raised $1.14 billion yen (about $8.2 million US) in a series C round. Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Daikin Industries (TSE: 6367), Mistletoe Japan, Yamaha Motor (TSE: 7272), and the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) participated in this round.

UTEC also participated in Wassha’s series A and series B rounds while Daikin Industries, Mistletoe Japan, and Yamaha Motor follow on their investments from the startup’s series B round. The latest round brought their funding sum up to date to approximately 3.5 billion yen (about $26 million yen).

Wassha was founded in November of 2013 under its previous name of Digital Grid. The company first started its business with a prepaid solar power delivery service to off-grid areas. In this service, solar panels and rechargeable batteries are installed at affiliated kiosks in rural villages without electricity, and LED lanterns, radios, tablets and other household appliances are provided for rent free of charge. The kiosk rents these appliances to village residents who visit the kiosk and pay fees by mobile to return an empty battery and receive get a charged one on a daily basis. recharge their batteries and pay fee the residents by mobile payments.

Our readers may recall that three investors in the latest round – Daikin Industries, Mistletoe Japan, and Yamaha Motor – announced that each of them would collaboratively work with Wassha when they previously announced their participation in the series B round. With Daikin Industries, Wassha has jointly developed a subscription-based air conditioner rental business in developing countries through Baridi Baridi, a joint venture of the two companies; With Yamaha Motor, Wassha will jointly study a logistics business (a distribution network using motorcycles to connect kiosks); and with Mistletoe Japan, Wassha considers to leverage the kiosk network for the investor’s portoflio startups. Dai-ichi Life says this is a part of their impact investment activities.

First started its service in Tanzania, the company also has now its presence in Uganda and Mozambique, and plans to expand into the Democratic Republic of the Congo within the year. They have so far partnered with more than 5,100 local kiosks. LED lanterns, their flagship product, has been rented 100,000 times per day. Going forward, they plan to leverage their network of the kiosks to provide both social and business services in finance, logistics, and other various areas.

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Aquatech startup Umitron secures $9.2M in pre-series B for Nordic, Chile expansion

Umitron

The Bridge 2022.06.07

Singapore- and Tokyo-based aquatech startup Umitron announced on Tuesday that it has raised 1.22 billion yen (about $9.2 million US) in a pre-series B round from ENEOS Holdings (TSE: 5020), QB Capital, and Toyo Seikan Group Holdings (TSE: 5901). The amount includes debt from Shoko Chukin Bank and other financial institutions. The latest round follows their series A round (raising 1.22 billion yen or $9.2 million US) back in 2018, and brought the funding sum to date up to 2.44 billion yen ($18.4 million US). Since its launch back in April of 2016, Umitron has developed several solutions for aquaculture farming such as Umitron Remora (AI-powered software that can be installed in existing facilities at large-scale aquaculture farms), Umitron Eagle (AI-powered real-time analysis for shrimp farming) as well as Umitron Pulse (web-based ocean satellite data service). The company announced in February that it has partnered with Eneos Holdings, one of the investors participating in this round, to launch joint research on technology applications in blue carbon businesses. Upon this funding, in addition to strengthening the business foundation of its existing and new services and cooperation with the investors, Umitron intends to accelerate its global business expansion for salmon and shrimp…

Singapore- and Tokyo-based aquatech startup Umitron announced on Tuesday that it has raised 1.22 billion yen (about $9.2 million US) in a pre-series B round from ENEOS Holdings (TSE: 5020), QB Capital, and Toyo Seikan Group Holdings (TSE: 5901). The amount includes debt from Shoko Chukin Bank and other financial institutions. The latest round follows their series A round (raising 1.22 billion yen or $9.2 million US) back in 2018, and brought the funding sum to date up to 2.44 billion yen ($18.4 million US).

Since its launch back in April of 2016, Umitron has developed several solutions for aquaculture farming such as Umitron Remora (AI-powered software that can be installed in existing facilities at large-scale aquaculture farms), Umitron Eagle (AI-powered real-time analysis for shrimp farming) as well as Umitron Pulse (web-based ocean satellite data service). The company announced in February that it has partnered with Eneos Holdings, one of the investors participating in this round, to launch joint research on technology applications in blue carbon businesses.

Upon this funding, in addition to strengthening the business foundation of its existing and new services and cooperation with the investors, Umitron intends to accelerate its global business expansion for salmon and shrimp farming industries. The company has teams in Singapore and Japan, and plans to set up more local subsidiaries and business development teams in the major salmon farming markets such as Nordic countries and Chile, as well as in Southeast Asia, a major shrimp farming market.

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Japanese SaaS startup Nulab files for IPO

nulab

SCORE 1,045

Masaru Ikeda 2022.05.25

Fukuoka-headquartered startup Nulab, offering various SaaS (software as a service) such as BackLog, Cacoo and Typetalk, announced on Tuesday that its IPO application to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on June 28 with plans to offer 510,300 shares for public subscription and to sell 290,800 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 1,429,000 shares. The underwriting will be led by SMBC Nikko Securities while Nulab’s ticker code will be 5033. Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 2,130 yen (about $16.8) per share, its market cap is approximately 13.74 billion yen (about $108 million). Its share price range will be released on June 10 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on June 13 and pricing on June 17. The final public offering price will be determined on June 20. According to its consolidated statement as of March of 2021, the company posted revenue of 1.94 billion yen ($15.3 million) with an ordinary loss of 8.52 million yen ($67,000). Since its launch back in March of 2004 by CEO Masanori Hashimoto and others, Nulab has been offering cloud-based solutions helping companies and individuals improve their productivity….

The Nulab team on the rooftop of its headquarters in Fukuoka, Japan
Image credit: Nulab

Fukuoka-headquartered startup Nulab, offering various SaaS (software as a service) such as BackLog, Cacoo and Typetalk, announced on Tuesday that its IPO application to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on June 28 with plans to offer 510,300 shares for public subscription and to sell 290,800 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 1,429,000 shares. The underwriting will be led by SMBC Nikko Securities while Nulab’s ticker code will be 5033.

Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 2,130 yen (about $16.8) per share, its market cap is approximately 13.74 billion yen (about $108 million). Its share price range will be released on June 10 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on June 13 and pricing on June 17. The final public offering price will be determined on June 20. According to its consolidated statement as of March of 2021, the company posted revenue of 1.94 billion yen ($15.3 million) with an ordinary loss of 8.52 million yen ($67,000).

Since its launch back in March of 2004 by CEO Masanori Hashimoto and others, Nulab has been offering cloud-based solutions helping companies and individuals improve their productivity. In addition to its headquarters in Fukuoka, the company is actively expanding both domestically and internationally, and now has development and marketing teams in New York, Singapore, and Amsterdam as well as several Japanese cities.

Led by CEO Hashimoto (25.42%), the company’s major shareholders include co-founder / director / head of NY office Shinsuke Tabata (25.34%), Alioth (24.01%), Now (4.93%), Nulab’s ESOP (employee stock ownership plan, 4.48%), East Ventures (4.3% through two funds), XTech Ventures (2.74%), and Shinsei Capital Partners (1.46%).

See also:

News

SpaceData develops AI that can create digital twin of entire planet, raises $10M+ in seed round

Soundraw, AI music composer from Japan, secures $1.4M to boost global expansion effort

ChatBook, developing chatbot and marketing automation tool, acquired by Monex Group

Japan’s Caster, offering WFH jobs for freelance workers, expanding into Germany, UAE

Japanese space robot developer Gitai sets up shop in LA

Japan’s fashion item rental startup AirCloset files for IPO

Japan’s AI-powered contract management startup LegalForce secures $100M+ in series D

Wassha raises $8.2M to diversify business beyond power supply in off-grid Africa

Aquatech startup Umitron secures $9.2M in pre-series B for Nordic, Chile expansion

Japanese SaaS startup Nulab files for IPO

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