Top EdTech Startups in Japan

In 2017, Japan spent around 4% of the total GDP on educational institutions. The compulsory education in Japan starts at the age of 6. The country’s focus is on providing high quality early childhood education and care. In terms of the internet usage, Japan ranks 4^th in Asia and 7^th in the world. The internet penetration rate in the country is 91.28% and has around 100 Mn smartphone users. As a result, Japan has a lot of potential in the EdTech sector. Also due to the COVID-19 situations, the demand for EdTech startups have increased and some of the existing startups are trying to expand their operations . So, here are some of the EdTech startups in Japan:

Arcterus

 

 

 

 

 

 

The company specialises in adaptive learning and social learning. This platform allows the students to exchange their notebooks with their each other. The main product is known as “Clear” which is notebook sharing platform. The platform users are mainly the middle school and high school students. The university users use the platform to prepare for the entrance exams. The platform is called the “Youtube of Study Notebooks” or “Cookpad of Study Notebooks”. Arcterus won the “Global EdTech Startup Award” in 2017. However, the company has other two products: MEETS and Clear S. MEETS is a student recruitment service within the Clear application. Clear S is an educational institutional learning tool. Thus, the company is focusing to create an impact on the Learning Technology.

Founded: Tokyo, 2010

Raised to Date: $3.4 Mn

Investors: Shinsei Bank, Asahi Kasei, Viling Venture Partners, BonAngels Venture Partners

Atama Plus

 

 

 

 

 

The startup, Atama Plus focuses on making the learning process simple with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). They provide 100% customised learning for each student in junior and senior school. With the help of AI, the platform creates one of a kind curriculum for each student on the basis of their understanding level, learning history. So, it maps the student’s concentration level and learning progress in real time. Mainly, their aim is to study the status of the students and then provide the coaching accordingly. Thus, the AI send the homework to each student’s smartphone based on their progress.

Founded: Tokyo, 2017

Raised to Date: $13.5 Mn

Investors: JAFCO, DCM Ventures

TerraTalk

 

 

 

 

 

The application, TerraTalk aids in learning English. The application corrects the grammar and pronunciation of the learners. It is a service for everyone from children to working adults. TerraTalk uses a chat type interface to interact with the AI by voice. The conversation lessons with the AI can be taken from anywhere. The conversations includes of scenario-based topics such as “how to order in a restaurant?” to gain confidence over the language. The users can adjust the accent as per their requirement. The application also has vocabulary drills wherein it would use synonym based questions. The company provides materials tailored as per the industries and jobs of the corporate clients. Therefore, making the journey of studying English trouble-free.

Founded: Tokyo, 2016

Raised to Date: $1.3 Mn

Investors: Venture Labo Investment, YJ Capital, Google for Startups Accelerator, Incubate Fund

Qubena

 

 

 

 

 

The AI platform, Qubena makes learning comfortable. Questions will be asked on the basis of student’s academic level with the help of AI. The platform recognizes the mistakes and guides the students through the problem. The main functions of the platform includes drawing, graph creation, homework, weakness analysis, handwritten memo, commentary optimization and high precision character recognition. On the other hand, Qubena’s personal services includes Qubena WizLite, Qubena Academy and Qubena Room. Qubena WizLite is a home learning application due to AI. Qubena Academy is a private school aiming on improving Maths and English. Lastly, Qubena Room is about opening cram schools (private schools) teaching students maths with the help of AI.

Founded: Tokyo, 2012

Raised to Date: $8.14 Mn

Investors: Shinsei Bank

StudyPlus

 

 

 

 

 

The application, StudyPlus maintains the learning record. The users with same goals can interact with each other. The startup has 4 other services: Studyplus for School, Studyplus Ads, StudyPlus API and Porto. The Studyplus for School is a learning service for educational institutions. Studyplus Ads is an advertisement which directly reaches the target user using cluster data. Studyplus API, user will be able to post study records to Studyplus from teaching material app. And finally Porto, which is an electronic reference book subscription service. Therefore, the startup motivates the users to study regularly.

Founded: Shibuya, 2010

Raised to Date: $6.41 Mn

Investors: Hakuhodo DY Ventures, Obunsha Ventures, DBJ Capital, JAFCO, Mixi Group

Progate

 

 

 

 

 

The EdTech startup, Progate is anonline platform for everyone who wants to learn programming. The platform has two plans: Basic and Progate Plus. The Basic plan includes of learning the elementary lessons of programming such as HTML Study 1 and Python Study 1. There are 18 beginner level lessons and is free of cost. The Progate Plus consists of in depth learning. It has around 77 lessons but only costs around $6.40 per month. Similarly, the company has an application that can help users to learn coding from anywhere.

Founded: Tokyo, 2014

Raised to Date: $3.65 Mn

Investors: FreakOut Fund, DeNA, East Ventures

Aidemy

 

 

 

 

 

The Edtech startup, Aidemy focus on teaching the AI programming service. The company has two plans Aidemy Business and Aidemy Premium Plan. Aidemy Business plan consists of learning AI on PCs, tablets and smartphones along with management functions necessary for the organisation. Aidemy Premium Plan is a programming school for individuals. The courses are suggested for engineers, PM/ Directors and Business Owners/ Sales/ Marketers.  However, the users don’t need to have any prior experience. Thus, making the overall experience interesting and uncomplicated. The platform gives teaching materials to the users so that they can practice. Also, the users can programme and get quick results.

Founded: Tokyo, 2014

Raised to Date: N/A

Investors: Daikin Industries, Daiwa Corporate Investment, Drone Fund, TechnoPro, University of Tokyo Edge Capital

Polygots

 

 

 

 

 

 

The application, Ploygots aims to aid people who plan to learn English. The curriculum is tailored as per each user’s learning content with the support of AI. The teachers will help the users in the areas that are difficult for them to study. The news articles on the application has the feature of the one tap dictionary. There are some articles with the listening and speaking features. Therefore, application prepares the users to the TOEIC level (Test of English for International Communication). The application has 3 plans: Basic Ordinary Day, Basic Comprehension check and Gold. The Basic Ordinary Day costs centres around the conversation part and is around $4.54 per month. Basic Comprehension Check is for those who wish to study reading comprehension and costs around $4.54 per month. Lastly, the Gold plan is for those who want to have the English speaking skills costing around $7.95 per month.

Founded: Tokyo, 2014

Raised to Date: N/A

Investors: DIP Company, Piped Bits, QB Capital

Eigooo!

 

 

 

 

The application Eigooo! assists the users to build real, usable conversation skills in a chat based environment. The users are guided by the teachers. Thus, any mistakes made will be immediately corrected by the teacher. The teachers come from 20 different countries around the world. The application can be utilised as per the user’s convenience. The text chat helps the users to take more time to make the sentences. Also, the users look up the unknown words and save them to study. Thus, the monthly cost of the application is around $37.84.

Founded: Tokyo, 2012

Raised to Date: N/A

Investors: Movida Japan

 

Source: Disruptive Japan

This research article has been produced by Investocracy, a company focused on connecting startups from emerging markets with Japanese investors.

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