Kaizen Platform Inc. (headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; CEO: Kenji Sudo. Hereinafter referred to as Kaizen Platform) has secured in total $4.6 million in Series C round of funding by way of third-party allotment of shares to the following subscribers: SBI Investment Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Katsuya Kawashima), Dentsu Innovation Partners Inc. (headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Katsuhiko Okubo), Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; 　President: Hajime Saito) and YJ Capital Inc. (headquarters: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; CEO: Shinichiro Hori).

Along with the new fundraising, Kaizen Platform has signed a strategic business alliance agreement with DENTSU INC. (headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toshihiro Yamamoto. Hereinafter referred to as Dentsu) and its 100% subsidiary called Dentsu Digital Inc. (headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; Representative and CEO: Norihiro Kuretani. Hereinafter referred to as Dentsu Digital) to sign the business alliance agreement. The two parties will collaborate as partners to realize the conception of the marketplace platform for video ads production and execution, as well as aim to build a platform which further supports business and human resources growth.

Purpose of Capital Increase

Kaizen Platform provides two core solutions: “Kaizen Platform”, optimization technology platform and a global network of Optimizers (growth hackers) where marketers can request improvement proposals directly from professional growth hackers from all over the world; and “Kaizen Ad” solution for maximizing digital and video advertising performance. With those core services, Kaizen Platform has succeeded in supporting the growth of many businesses by improving the experiences and communication between marketers and consumers of this internet age by making it easier and more comfortable.

Leveraging the new Series C funding, Kaizen Platform aims to expand the “Kaizen Ad” video ad business which is showing a rapid growth lately. The previous U.S. company, Kaizen Platform, Inc. which was founded in 2013 raised $17.8 million dollars and the accumulated total value of the funds raised to date are worth 2.63 billion JPY.

Background of Business Alliance and Future Development

What has triggered this business alliance is the fact that “Quick Video*”, the co-developed service which launched in June 2017, has achieved great results. Targeting the further expansion of this initiative and to significantly innovate the workstyle of the human resources in the current creative industry, Kaizen Platform aims to develop an open marketplace where more types of creators will have more opportunities to be more active. Making a good use of data, know-how and the network of creative resources including growth hackers which Kaizen Platform has accumulated over 4 years since the launch of the company, Kaizen Platform will accelerate working on initiatives which would contribute to further development of the entire industry and to provide better digital experiences.

* Co-developed with Dentsu and it’s 100% subsidiary Dentsu Digital (Headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; Representative and CEO: Norihiro Kuretani).

Comment from CEO, Kenji Sudo

“Kaizen Platform has improved website and advertising performance of over 300 customers. In addition to that, we have been building a rich network of creative resources, consisting of not only graphic and UX designers for websites, but also analysts, creative directors and creators who improve video ad performance. Going forward, together with the reassurance of our shareholders we will strive to realize our vision which is to provide new work-style of the 21st century and create employment by expanding the marketplace where creative resources will be soundly evaluated for enhancing the added-value through visualization of their performance and achievements.”

Customer or Partnership Inquiry
https://resources.kaizenplatform.com/JP-Contact-Form_Reg.html

Outline of Subscribers*1 of New Shares (4 companies):

  • SBI Investment Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Katsuya Kawashima)
  • Dentsu Innovation Partners Inc. (Headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Katsuhiko Okubo)
  • Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President: Hajime Saito)
  • YJ Capital Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; CEO: Shinichiro Hori)

*1 including the funds managed by the subject company

Corporate Profile Summary

Company name: Kaizen Platform, Inc.
Founded in April, 2017 ( Business transferred from the US company Kaizen Platform, Inc. which was established in August, 2013)
Representative: Kenji Sudo, Representative Director
URL: http://kaizenplatform.com/ja/

Location: Shirokane-takanawa Station Building 10F, 1-27-6, Shirokane, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-0072, Japan

Description of Business: ”Kaizen Platform”, a combination of world-class optimization technology with a global network of talented Optimizers (growth hackers) to rapidly improve and continuously A/B test UI experiences by directly requesting improvement proposals from growth hackers, and “Kaizen Ad” solution for maximizing digital video ad creative.