DEEPCORE Inc. (“DEEPCORE”), an AI-focused incubator based in Japan, today announced its investment in UsideU Inc. (“UsideU”), through its venture capital fund “DEEPCORE TOKYO I Investment Limited Partnership” (“the fund”), which invests in seed and early-stage AI startups. This marks the second investment for the fund.
UsideU provides a digital dispatch service called “Collaboroid” that improves dialog efficiency in sales and guidance by applying complex reinforcement learning technologies in such areas as voice, facial expressions and touch panels. “Collaboroid” can help solve the service worker shortage due to the aging of the population and the expansion of inbound demand with its system in which remote staff and AI complement each other. In this way it paves the way for a new type of workstyle.
Junji Takaoka joined Alibaba.com Japan Co., Ltd., which followed his experience at a start-up in China, and EIR of Draper Nexus in Silicon Valley before establishing UsideU in June 2017. Go Nakazawa, who had worked at NTT DATA Corporation and SoftBank Group Corp.’s CEO Office, is a co-founder & COO of UsideU. Kazunori Sakamoto (Ph.D. in Engineering), who served as an assistant professor of the National Institute of Informatics, is CTO. Alireza Goudarzi (Ph.D. in Physics), who worked at RIKEN Brain Science Institute after launching a start-up in Silicon Valley, is Chief AI Technology Officer. Sawa Tomoaki, who serves as Vice President at GREE, is pioneering further new areas as Chief Product Officer.
UsideU
Junji Takaoka, CEO of UsideU Inc. said, “UsideU is pleased to announce that UsideU has received an investment from DEEPCORE. We made this decision due to DEEPCORE’s AI-focused support system in addition to its highly-trusted investment team which is the result of the proven track record and impeccable character of Mr. Niki, Ms. Amemiya and its other members. We will continue to move forward in providing solutions to the service worker shortage that is becoming a global issue.”
Katsumasa Niki, CEO of DEEPCORE Inc. said, “We anticipate sharp growth ahead for UsideU’s service robotic system, which is expected to be used at shops and homes facing a labor shortage amid mounting inbound demand and the aging of the population in Japan. Furthermore, we have enormous respect for their vision and the unparalleled technical capabilities of Mr. Nakazawa and Mr. Takaoka, co-founders of the technology, as well as other members of their team.”
Company name
UsideU Inc.
CEO
Junji Takaoka
Date of establishment
June 2017
Business overview
Providing personal assistant service, applying reinforcement learning technologies
Website
https://www.usideu.com/
https://www.wantedly.com/companies/usideu
About DEEPCORE
DEEPCORE, whose mission is to be a “CORE for Disruptive Innovations,” is an AI-focused incubator that cultivates young and talented entrepreneurs in the AI field, especially in the Deep Learning arena. DEEPCORE aims to build an ecosystem that fosters entrepreneurs who generate disruptive innovations with technologies and use AI technologies, including Deep Learning, in society. DEEPCORE will open the community and co-working space “KERNEL” (in Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo) this summer, and build an AI technology-driven community that enables joint projects with companies and support startups. DEEPCORE is a regular member of the Japan Deep Learning Association.
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