THE BRIDGE

tag Rinkak

Japan’s Kabuku, 3D printing platform operator, closes $6 million round

SHARE:

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Kabuku, the startup known for its 3D printing service brand Rinkak, announced today that it has fundraised 750 million yen ($6 million) from Japanese VC firm Global Brain, Dentsu Digital Holdings (DDH), and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital. Since having secured 400 million yen ($3.3 million) in August from Global Brain, Kabuku has been exploring additional funding opportunities from other sources together with the VC firm, the lead investor in this round. Kabuku has closed the latest round by securing 350 million yen ($2.8 million) funding from DDH and Mitsui Sumitomo Capital. Kabuku fundraised 20 million yen from angel investors in June of the same year, followed by securing 200 million yen ($1.7 million) funding from CyberAgent Ventures (CAV) and Fuji Startup Ventures (FSV) in June 2014. With the latest funding, Kabuku has fundraised 600 million yen ($4.8 million) 950 million yen ($7.8 million) to date. [1] In September 2014, Kabuku partnered with Dentsu, an ad agency company under DDH, to develop a solution in the digital fabrication space, aiming to support hardware inventing activities between startups and corporates. In July, Global Brain, one of the investors in the latest round, invested in…

rinkak_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Kabuku, the startup known for its 3D printing service brand Rinkak, announced today that it has fundraised 750 million yen ($6 million) from Japanese VC firm Global Brain, Dentsu Digital Holdings (DDH), and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital.

Since having secured 400 million yen ($3.3 million) in August from Global Brain, Kabuku has been exploring additional funding opportunities from other sources together with the VC firm, the lead investor in this round. Kabuku has closed the latest round by securing 350 million yen ($2.8 million) funding from DDH and Mitsui Sumitomo Capital.

Kabuku fundraised 20 million yen from angel investors in June of the same year, followed by securing 200 million yen ($1.7 million) funding from CyberAgent Ventures (CAV) and Fuji Startup Ventures (FSV) in June 2014. With the latest funding, Kabuku has fundraised 600 million yen ($4.8 million) 950 million yen ($7.8 million) to date. [1]

In September 2014, Kabuku partnered with Dentsu, an ad agency company under DDH, to develop a solution in the digital fabrication space, aiming to support hardware inventing activities between startups and corporates. In July, Global Brain, one of the investors in the latest round, invested in HWTrek, Taiwan-based online community platform for hardware developers, so expect a business synergy with Kabuku through supporting forming the ecosystem of digital fabrication startups.

Kabuku was established in January 2013. Originally launched as a showcase and marketplace of 3D printing products, Kabuku has diversified its business to providing other solutions such as Rinkak 3D Printing PPP (Printing Partner Program) that connects orders to relevant printing factories based on manufacturing needs, and Rinkak 3D Printing MMS (Manufacturing Management Service) that provides a cloud-based production management system for 3D printing factories. The company will use the funds to strengthen development and global marketing of these new services.

Edited by Kurt Hanson


  1. Updated based on feedback from CyberAgent Ventures.

Japan’s Kabuku raises $3.3 million from Global Brain to diversify 3D printing business

SHARE:

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Kabuku, the startup known for its 3D printing service brand Rinkak, announced today that it has fundraised 400 million yen ($3.3 million) from Global Brain. This round is not yet closed but Global Brain leads other investors who have potential business synergy with Kabuku. The funds will be used to develop a cloud-based production management system for 3D printing factories as well as expand partnerships with third-party 3D printing manufacturing services, both of which were recently announced. Launched back in 2013, Kabuku fundraised 20 million yen from angel investors in June of the same year, followed by securing 200 million yen ($1.7 million) funding from CyberAgent Ventures (CAV) and Fuji Startup Ventures (FSV) in June 2014. Originally launched as a showcase and marketplace of 3D printing products, Kabuku has diversified its business to providing other solutions such as Rinkak 3D Printing PPP (Printing Partner Program) that connects orders to relevant printing factories based on manufacturing needs, and Rinkak 3D Printing MMS (Manufacturing Management Service) that provides a cloud-based production management system for 3D printing factories. As part of their open-innovation effort where a startup collaboratively works with corporates, Kabuku provides customized choices of…

rinkak_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Kabuku, the startup known for its 3D printing service brand Rinkak, announced today that it has fundraised 400 million yen ($3.3 million) from Global Brain. This round is not yet closed but Global Brain leads other investors who have potential business synergy with Kabuku. The funds will be used to develop a cloud-based production management system for 3D printing factories as well as expand partnerships with third-party 3D printing manufacturing services, both of which were recently announced.

Launched back in 2013, Kabuku fundraised 20 million yen from angel investors in June of the same year, followed by securing 200 million yen ($1.7 million) funding from CyberAgent Ventures (CAV) and Fuji Startup Ventures (FSV) in June 2014.

Originally launched as a showcase and marketplace of 3D printing products, Kabuku has diversified its business to providing other solutions such as Rinkak 3D Printing PPP (Printing Partner Program) that connects orders to relevant printing factories based on manufacturing needs, and Rinkak 3D Printing MMS (Manufacturing Management Service) that provides a cloud-based production management system for 3D printing factories.

As part of their open-innovation effort where a startup collaboratively works with corporates, Kabuku provides customized choices of fabricated body parts or interiors for Toyota i-Road, a personal mobility product under development in Toyoda’s Open Road Project.

open-road-project-rinkak

Edited by Kurt Hanson

Japan’s Kabuku launches cloud-based 3D printing platform for app developers

SHARE:

See the original story in Japanese. Japan’s 3D printing startup Kabuku, a marketplace operator for 3D designs and prints, started a cloud-based 3D printing platform this week. The platform is called Rinkak 3D Print Cloud for business, and allows users to integrate apps or web services with the 3D printing feature provided by Kabuku. For companies operating platforms for 3D computer graphics and CAD data, users will be able to order 3D printing from their data through this integration. See also: New Japanese 3D Printing Marketplace Officially Debuts Notable examples integrated with the platform include 3D Pipo, developed in Taiwan and recently launched in Japan. This app has won the top spot in the Taiwan app store with 500,000 downloads. It allows for the creation of 3D model data from a photo and the ordering of 3D printing via smartphone. Kabuku plans to provide an API for the 3D Pipo global edition (known as Insta3D) to integrate with the 3D printing platform. Kabuku aims to strengthen partnerships with game developers, social app providers, and other companies operating platforms for 3D computer graphics and CAD data. 3D game titles like Infinity Blade III provide players with online ordering of 3D-printed figures…

rinkak3D-Print-Cloud-for-Business

See the original story in Japanese.

Japan’s 3D printing startup Kabuku, a marketplace operator for 3D designs and prints, started a cloud-based 3D printing platform this week. The platform is called Rinkak 3D Print Cloud for business, and allows users to integrate apps or web services with the 3D printing feature provided by Kabuku. For companies operating platforms for 3D computer graphics and CAD data, users will be able to order 3D printing from their data through this integration.

See also:

Notable examples integrated with the platform include 3D Pipo, developed in Taiwan and recently launched in Japan. This app has won the top spot in the Taiwan app store with 500,000 downloads. It allows for the creation of 3D model data from a photo and the ordering of 3D printing via smartphone. Kabuku plans to provide an API for the 3D Pipo global edition (known as Insta3D) to integrate with the 3D printing platform.

Kabuku aims to strengthen partnerships with game developers, social app providers, and other companies operating platforms for 3D computer graphics and CAD data. 3D game titles like Infinity Blade III provide players with online ordering of 3D-printed figures of main characters. So Kabuku sees synergy with more apps and services.

Can Osaka be a startup hub?

SHARE:

This is an abridged version of the original report in Japanese. The HackOsaka 2014 conference recently took place here in Japan, with the aim of boosting the startup community in Japan’s Kansai region. This year Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky and Berg CEO Matt Webb were invited as special guests. Pebble, of course, is the smart watch developer that was funded by Y-Combinator. Berg is based in London, offering an ‘Internet of Things’ cloud platform for third-party developers. Together with Masahiko Inada, the CEO of Kabuku [1], they participated in an panel discussion moderated by journalist Tsuruaki Yukawa. While many major companies in Japan have their headquarters in Tokyo, many CEOs are originally from Osaka. Yukawa explained a little about Osaka’s history of entrepreneurship: My father was a merchant. In fact, when I was a kid, all the parents except maybe one were merchants. Even though there are strong entrepreneurship roots in Osaka, the city is not the startup hub in Japan. Everyone goes to Tokyo. What should we do? Matt noted that the situation is similar to what London previously experienced: A lot of startups in London left for the USA. Because we didn’t have funds, there was no way…

IMGP0014

This is an abridged version of the original report in Japanese.

The HackOsaka 2014 conference recently took place here in Japan, with the aim of boosting the startup community in Japan’s Kansai region. This year Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky and Berg CEO Matt Webb were invited as special guests. Pebble, of course, is the smart watch developer that was funded by Y-Combinator. Berg is based in London, offering an ‘Internet of Things’ cloud platform for third-party developers. Together with Masahiko Inada, the CEO of Kabuku [1], they participated in an panel discussion moderated by journalist Tsuruaki Yukawa.

While many major companies in Japan have their headquarters in Tokyo, many CEOs are originally from Osaka. Yukawa explained a little about Osaka’s history of entrepreneurship:

My father was a merchant. In fact, when I was a kid, all the parents except maybe one were merchants. Even though there are strong entrepreneurship roots in Osaka, the city is not the startup hub in Japan. Everyone goes to Tokyo. What should we do?

Matt noted that the situation is similar to what London previously experienced:

A lot of startups in London left for the USA. Because we didn’t have funds, there was no way to tie up with big companies. We didn’t have a community.

Of course, community plays an important role in any startup scene. And Eric stressed the benefits that the startup community provides in Silicon Valley.

hackosaka-2014-iot-ericWhen you develop a minimum viable product, you can get both positive and negative feedback from the community. Taking that feedback into account, and continuing development in a constructive manner is important.

At a large company, a CEO can get feedback from his or her board members. But at a startup, a founder often has to rely on himself or herself. Because of this, community support can be just as important as fundraising and market chance.

Matt said it is important to name a community if you want to develop it. The area around Old Street station in East London had been called Silicon Roundabout, but later the UK government named the area TechCity with the intention to invite more startups there. This has helped to raise public awareness. People started thinking about entrepreneurship, getting together in order to create a community.

Matt: Organizing events is important as well. In London, events related to hardware startups are held about twice a month. Job events and networking events are held almost every week.

Eric: People in Osaka have already started doing important things. This event has a pitch contest. This is quite important to help build a community.

TechCity in London took a much different path than Silicon Valley. In the same way, I’m optimistic that Osaka can develop it’s own unique startup culture, something different from Tokyo or Fukuoka.


  1. Kabuku operates 3D printing marketplace Rinkak.  ↩

CNet Japan Startup Award nominees: Exploring e-commerce with Monoco, Rinkak, & Base

SHARE:

This is part five of our CNet Japan Startup Awards nominee rundown. The rest can be found here. Search and recommendation are a tough nut to crack, especially when it comes to e-commerce. We are overloaded by information, and technology struggles to parse relevance that can match our needs. Users now expect sites and services to know what we want before we know we want it (see Amazon and Netflix recommendation algos, for instance). This is a problem that needs solving regardless of where you live, and it can be a huge opportunity for startups to address a real consumer need. Enter Monoco and Rinkak, looking to connect designers with consumers. Think of them as Japan’s answer to Etsy or Fab. Meanwhile Base is the local version of Squarespace, Shopify, and Strikingly. All three are doing interesting things in Japan’s e-commerce space these days, attempting to solve the same difficult issues that face e-commerce businesses abroad. Monoco Monoco is an e-commerce site focused on selling fashion and craft goods of limited quantities for limited times. The items are curated by buyers the around the globe, and since the site’s launch in April of 2012, it has acquired more than 87,000…

monoco-base-rinkak-wide

This is part five of our CNet Japan Startup Awards nominee rundown. The rest can be found here.

Search and recommendation are a tough nut to crack, especially when it comes to e-commerce. We are overloaded by information, and technology struggles to parse relevance that can match our needs. Users now expect sites and services to know what we want before we know we want it (see Amazon and Netflix recommendation algos, for instance). This is a problem that needs solving regardless of where you live, and it can be a huge opportunity for startups to address a real consumer need.

Enter Monoco and Rinkak, looking to connect designers with consumers. Think of them as Japan’s answer to Etsy or Fab. Meanwhile Base is the local version of Squarespace, Shopify, and Strikingly. All three are doing interesting things in Japan’s e-commerce space these days, attempting to solve the same difficult issues that face e-commerce businesses abroad.

Monoco

monoco

Monoco is an e-commerce site focused on selling fashion and craft goods of limited quantities for limited times. The items are curated by buyers the around the globe, and since the site’s launch in April of 2012, it has acquired more than 87,000 users, with more than 1100 designers worldwide.

Because of the quantity and time constraints, it could be easy to write off Monoco as just another flash sales site. But browsing through the site, I think this format makes sense.

When you first log-on, you are immediately greeted by professional grade, high quality images. The products are carefully chosen, often a unique spin on regular products like mugs, phone accessories, handbags, and clothing. It’s easy to lose yourself scrolling and scrolling as you browse the many product offerings.

On the product pages, prices are hidden unless you are a registered user. And this is a pretty clever way to subtly encourage user registration.

The limited sale period and quantity creates a sense of urgency for the user to purchase, and it cycles products to surface designers. It’s a different way to approach recommendation, increasing the site’s overall stickiness factor as users will check, and re-check the site to see new items.

In July, Monoco announced series A funding of an undisclosed amount.

Rinkak

rinkak-screener

Rinkak (the name means ‘outline of object’ in Japanese) is a 3D printing marketplace that is Japan’s answer to Shapeways. The site opened to the public in September.

They offer a platform for anyone with 3D data to sell their printed designs. Like Shapeways, they offer various materials like plastic, pottery and metals.

3D printing seems to finally be gaining traction beyond the scope of early tech adopters. Shapeways, founded in 2007, most recently closed a $30 million series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with a total of $47.3 million raised thus far. With a physical shop, distribution center in NYC, and an API to encourage 3D printing apps, they are clearly the 3D printing market place leader in the US startup space. Let’s wait and see what Rinkak will do similarly or differently. For more on Rinkak, check out our previous feature back in September.

Base

Often referred to as Japan’s Shopify, Base’s e-commerce site is the marketing platform for the founder’s true vision: a mobile payment solution platform. Base has raised a total of $4.73 million and has expanded its team from 12 to 20 people. The CEO states they have acquired 50,000 merchants in the past year, with a monthly growth of 10% when we last spoke with them.

It’s rapid growth shows Japanese small- to mid-sized merchants are looking for e-commerce solutions other than Rakuten and Amazon. 70% of Base’s user activity comes from smartphones — another clear indication that Japanese e-commerce behaviors are shifting.

You can check out the company’s brief promo video below.

Good luck to all three startups on Tuesday night at the CNet Japan Startup Awards.

New Japanese 3D Printing Marketplace Officially Debuts

SHARE:

A new 3D printing marketplace recently made its debut in Japan. It’s called Rinkak, which roughly means ‘outline of objects’ in Japanese. Anyone with 3D data can open shops on the platform and sell products from their designs, which is sort of similar to Shapeways. Rinkak has been operating in beta for three months, and has now opened up to the public. There are many materials available on the site including plastic, pottery, and metal. Designers can set a price for their products based on the manufacturing fee, and Rinkak takes a 30% cut from sales. Manufacturing and shipping will be handled by partner companies of Kabuku, the company behind the new 3D platform. On Rinkak, designers can publish 3D data under a Creative Commons license. This allows for other creators to modify parts of the design to produce remixed products. Currently, there are only around 40 products available (some by the same designer) on Rinkak. But there is no shortage of amazing designs, as you can see below. The products are only available to purchase in Japan right now, so overseas buyers will have to wait. LovelyHeart paper cup holder for ¥2,434. Polygon espresso cup, ¥5274. Shop card stand,…

Rinkak-website

A new 3D printing marketplace recently made its debut in Japan. It’s called Rinkak, which roughly means ‘outline of objects’ in Japanese. Anyone with 3D data can open shops on the platform and sell products from their designs, which is sort of similar to Shapeways. Rinkak has been operating in beta for three months, and has now opened up to the public.

There are many materials available on the site including plastic, pottery, and metal. Designers can set a price for their products based on the manufacturing fee, and Rinkak takes a 30% cut from sales. Manufacturing and shipping will be handled by partner companies of Kabuku, the company behind the new 3D platform.

On Rinkak, designers can publish 3D data under a Creative Commons license. This allows for other creators to modify parts of the design to produce remixed products.

Currently, there are only around 40 products available (some by the same designer) on Rinkak. But there is no shortage of amazing designs, as you can see below. The products are only available to purchase in Japan right now, so overseas buyers will have to wait.

LovelyHeart-rinkakLovelyHeart paper cup holder for ¥2,434.


Polygon-espresso-cup-RinkakPolygon espresso cup, ¥5274.

Shopcard-stand-RinkakShop card stand, ¥5,000.

stratum-vase-rinkakStratum vase, ¥27,954.

bigA-papercup-holder-RinkakBigA paper cup holder, ¥1,317.