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Japan’s mobile app analytics startup Fuller files for IPO

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Japanese startup Fuller, the company offering mobile app development and usage data analysis services, announced on Monday that its initial listing application on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on July 25 with plans to offer 80,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 44,200 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 215,200 shares. The underwriting will be led by SBI Securities while Fuller’s ticker code will be 5583. Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 990 yen (about $7) per share, its market cap is approximately 1.66 billion yen (about $11.7 million). Its share price range will be released on July 5 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on July 7 and pricing on July 13. The final public offering price will be determined on July 14. According to its consolidated statement as of June of 2022, the company posted revenue of 1.24 billion yen ($8.7 million) with an ordinary profit of 166.1 million yen ($1.2 million). Fuller was founded in November 2011. Currently, the company’s founder, Shuta Shibuya, serves as Chairman of the Board while Shoji Yamazaki serves as President. The company had been headquartered in…

From left: Founder and Chairman Shuta Shibuya, President Masashi Yamazaki
Image credit: Fuller

Japanese startup Fuller, the company offering mobile app development and usage data analysis services, announced on Monday that its initial listing application on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Growth Market on July 25 with plans to offer 80,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 44,200 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 215,200 shares. The underwriting will be led by SBI Securities while Fuller’s ticker code will be 5583.

Based on the company’s estimated issue price is 990 yen (about $7) per share, its market cap is approximately 1.66 billion yen (about $11.7 million). Its share price range will be released on July 5 with bookbuilding scheduled to start on July 7 and pricing on July 13. The final public offering price will be determined on July 14. According to its consolidated statement as of June of 2022, the company posted revenue of 1.24 billion yen ($8.7 million) with an ordinary profit of 166.1 million yen ($1.2 million).

Fuller was founded in November 2011. Currently, the company’s founder, Shuta Shibuya, serves as Chairman of the Board while Shoji Yamazaki serves as President. The company had been headquartered in Tokyo’s suburb of Kashiwanoha for a long time. In November of 2020, their registered head office was moved to Niigata, where hibuya was born and raised, and the company now has two head offices, in Niigata and Kashiwanoha. This will be the first listing from Niigata Prefecture since Snow Peak (TSE: 7816) and Yukiguni-Maitake (TSE: 1375).

Major shareholders include Founder and Chairman Shuta Shibuya (16.08%), B Dash Ventures (8.42%), Global Catalyst Partners Japan (7.97%), Asahi Net (6.26%), Ibaraki New Industry Creation Fund (5.17%), Kimiya Yamamoto (President of Open Road Associates, 4.23%), Executive Vice President and CDO Hiroki Sakurai (3.45%), Niigata Venture Capital (3.41%), and President Masashi Yamazaki (3.33%).

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Japan’s mobile analytics startup Fuller gains $4 million to fuel global 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. Fuller, a Japanese startup focused on the smartphone apps field which provides user research (pace, Survey Monkey) like App Ape Analytics and other services, has gained a total of 420 million yen in funding. Investors, in addition to Voyage Ventures and Global Catalyst Partners Japan not to mention Sega Games – all based in Tokyo – and Asahi Shimbun headquartered in Osaka (Global Catalyst and Asahi being existing investors), include local government-related entities like those from Ibaraki and Niigata prefectures. See also: Japan’s mobile app analytics startup Fuller raises $1.9 million for global expansion The currently Chiba-based venture, started in November of 2011 in Tsukuba, had just commenced comprehensive global marketing of its new product called Joren. Now, with added funding Fuller can avail more products abroad under its “Fuller 2.0” push, entailing not only expanding overseas and finding new partners with which to create novel app markets but also revitalizing the regions it is involved in, beginning with Chiba, Ibaraki and the like. Joren (pronounced “Jou-Ren” which refers to friendly and repeat customers in Japan) is a software tool…

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


fuller_sxsw_3
CEO Shuta Shibuya stands in the middle in the back row. (earlier this year at SXSW, Austin)
Image credit: Fuller

Fuller, a Japanese startup focused on the smartphone apps field which provides user research (pace, Survey Monkey) like App Ape Analytics and other services, has gained a total of 420 million yen in funding. Investors, in addition to Voyage Ventures and Global Catalyst Partners Japan not to mention Sega Games – all based in Tokyo – and Asahi Shimbun headquartered in Osaka (Global Catalyst and Asahi being existing investors), include local government-related entities like those from Ibaraki and Niigata prefectures.

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The currently Chiba-based venture, started in November of 2011 in Tsukuba, had just commenced comprehensive global marketing of its new product called Joren. Now, with added funding Fuller can avail more products abroad under its “Fuller 2.0” push, entailing not only expanding overseas and finding new partners with which to create novel app markets but also revitalizing the regions it is involved in, beginning with Chiba, Ibaraki and the like.

fuller-shibuya-at-orange-fab-asia
CEO Shibuya shared his insights for global expansion efforts with other avid entrepreneurs.
(Earlier this month at Orange Fab Asia in Tokyo) Image credit: “Tex” Pomeroy

Joren (pronounced “Jou-Ren” which refers to friendly and repeat customers in Japan) is a software tool that can create apps with just an input of a website URL input. This item was unveiled Fuller’s booth laden with the Japanese Noren (roughly meaning the flag-like “standard” bearing the establishment’s mark, which is pronounced as is) this spring at SXSW (south by south west) in Texas. Fuller strategically has its eyes on the world including the US but will begin this journey from its “home turf” in Asia.

Fuller CEO Shuta Shibuya noted his outfit is targeting international artists and the media field occupied by them, in particular for Asia based on efforts out of the Japanese market; it is already expanding into Korea and Taiwan in preparation for more action in foreign locations like the Philippines, Indonesia and even Russia, reflecting the staff composition of his company among other things.

Shibuya – who was also able to make an impromptu pitch at the Austin event where the firm’s booth was decorated to play up the Chiba background with the staff wearing traditional Japanese festival garbs such as “Happi“… which was found to be an effective approach upon leaving an impression on visitors – stressed the affordability of Fuller offerings.

fuller-620x390
Fuller signs with Korea’s Mobidays for the regional expansion. (In Seoul, May 2016)
Image credit: Mobidays

Japan’s mobile app analytics startup Fuller raises $1.9 million for global expansion

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This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese. Fuller, a Japanese startup that provides market survey and analytics focused on mobile apps, announced today that it has fundraised 230 million yen ($1.9 million) from Global Catalyst Partners (vc firm), Colopl (gaming company), Opt (digital ad agency), The Asahi Shimbun (newspaper publishing), Nihon Kotsu (cab operator), Infoteria (system integrator), and unnamed individual investors. This follows their previous round funding 100 million yen from UK-based m8 capital and Tokyo-based internet service provider Asahi Net in 2012. See also: Amazing gesture control Ring wins Tokyo pitch event, moves on to SF Japan Night Fuller is based out of KOIL (Kashiwa-no-ha Open Innovation Lab), a startup hub in Tokyo’s suburb, has developed Mr. Mobile, the battery saver (previously known as I’m Joe, the battery saver) and a mobile app-focused audience rating and analytics service called App Ape. App Ape allows app developers to conduct a market survey and a competitive research, and has acquired over 2,000 app developers as users since its launch in November 2014. App Ape uses a methodology similar to an audience rating for TV programs like Nielsen does to measure viewership, acquiring data from randomly-selected mobile users…

appape_featuredimage

This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese.

Fuller, a Japanese startup that provides market survey and analytics focused on mobile apps, announced today that it has fundraised 230 million yen ($1.9 million) from Global Catalyst Partners (vc firm), Colopl (gaming company), Opt (digital ad agency), The Asahi Shimbun (newspaper publishing), Nihon Kotsu (cab operator), Infoteria (system integrator), and unnamed individual investors. This follows their previous round funding 100 million yen from UK-based m8 capital and Tokyo-based internet service provider Asahi Net in 2012.

See also:

Fuller is based out of KOIL (Kashiwa-no-ha Open Innovation Lab), a startup hub in Tokyo’s suburb, has developed Mr. Mobile, the battery saver (previously known as I’m Joe, the battery saver) and a mobile app-focused audience rating and analytics service called App Ape. App Ape allows app developers to conduct a market survey and a competitive research, and has acquired over 2,000 app developers as users since its launch in November 2014.

App Ape uses a methodology similar to an audience rating for TV programs like Nielsen does to measure viewership, acquiring data from randomly-selected mobile users who have acknowledged to provide information like what apps they have installed on their mobile or how often these apps are used, using App Ape’s monitoring app installed on their device.

According to Fuller CEO Shuta Shibuya, the App Ape service has been adopted by notable Japanese internet companies such as Gunosy, Eureka, and Adways. They plan to expand to mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, as well as launching the survey service in Korea and three US cities by the end of this year. Also they will introduce a usage optimization app for global smartphone users and the next generation version of the Mr. Mobile, the battery saver app.

Fuller CEO Shuta Shibuya
Fuller CEO Shuta Shibuya

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by Kurt Hanson
Proofread by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japanese taxi company collaborates with startup on fare calculation app

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In Japan, only 20% of taxi rides are booked in advance. And many taxi companies are releasing their own mobile apps to simplify the process of calling up a cab, and hopefully filling up more of their empty cabs at the same time. Nihon Kotsu is one such company, with its mobile app Zenkoku Taxi Haisha (roughly translated as National Taxi Dispatch). The app was first released back in December of 2011 and within a year it had over 500,000 downloads. The sales resulting from the app have exceeded 500 million yen, with over 40 prefectures and 76 taxi groups making use of it. And now the company has announced the release of a Taxi Ojisan Fare Calculation app in collaboration with a startup called Fuller. Fuller is known for its Android phone management app ‘Boku Sumaho’ (meaning ‘I’m smartphone’ in Japanese). The app lets you run your mobile phone more efficiently by uninstalling apps that are not used, or killing unnecessary tasks. What’s unique about the app is that a small ojisan character (‘ojisan’ refers to an older man) in the app can be nurtured as you better manage the usage of your Android phones. In the taxi fare…

Taxi-Ojisan

In Japan, only 20% of taxi rides are booked in advance. And many taxi companies are releasing their own mobile apps to simplify the process of calling up a cab, and hopefully filling up more of their empty cabs at the same time. Nihon Kotsu is one such company, with its mobile app Zenkoku Taxi Haisha (roughly translated as National Taxi Dispatch).

The app was first released back in December of 2011 and within a year it had over 500,000 downloads. The sales resulting from the app have exceeded 500 million yen, with over 40 prefectures and 76 taxi groups making use of it. And now the company has announced the release of a Taxi Ojisan Fare Calculation app in collaboration with a startup called Fuller.

Fuller is known for its Android phone management app ‘Boku Sumaho’ (meaning ‘I’m smartphone’ in Japanese). The app lets you run your mobile phone more efficiently by uninstalling apps that are not used, or killing unnecessary tasks. What’s unique about the app is that a small ojisan character (‘ojisan’ refers to an older man) in the app can be nurtured as you better manage the usage of your Android phones.

In the taxi fare calculation app, this same ojisan character lends a helping hand as well. By entering the starting point and destination from keywords or a map, the app calculates the estimate taxi fare. It uses the engine of the National Taxi Dispatch app, allowing you to call for a cab right after you do the math.

CNet Japan points out that the founders of Nihon Kotsu and Fuller met at an Evernote Hackathon in Tokyo held back in January. The CEO of Nihon Kotsu, Ichiro Kawanabe, explains:

At many companies, the decision makers are middle aged men. The common problem we have is to expand our reach to women and the younger generation. Getting support from a young startup sounded like a good idea. Our collaboration will trigger more projects like this […] which are lacking in the Japanese business society.

Still resistant to change

Back at the Japan New Economy Summit, we Uber CEO Travis Kalanik talk about the problems he encountered when trying to bring his car service to Japan:

In Tokyo they fix the prices on private car services at 5540 yen. There are something like 90 different zones with different minimum fares, different rules. We are in cities all over the world and we haven’t seen anything like this. The government has essentially said that only rich people are able to get car service. […] These laws are set up to protect the taxis and your city is worse off because of it. In order for us to connect you to a car service through an app, we have to become a licensed travel guide. We have to hire certified travel guides. I don’t know why. They’re just trying to make it hard.

So while it’s certainly good to see taxi companies like Nihon Kotsu experimenting with new technologies, we hope that regulators leave some space for up-and-coming services like Uber to innovate as well.