■Data Section ＜3905＞ Company Overview
1. Company Overview
The company group is developing retail marketing businesses using image analysis technology using AI, and fintech and SNS businesses that make use of their strengths in development capabilities. Since its establishment, it has supported overseas store DX with a “retail marketing business” centered on stock services, etc. from around 2018, based on SaaS-type services such as SNS analysis, etc., and a “social media analysis business” and “AI/ system development business” centered on system operation/maintenance, etc. Additionally, as a “new business,” they are also focusing on medical businesses and in-house product development. The company group consists of a total of 8 companies, including the conventional company and its consolidated subsidiaries.
SI, which is a consolidated subsidiary, is engaged in multilingual social media analysis and consulting business, and similarly, DSS undertakes maintenance and operation of financial systems and develops applications. The overseas subsidiaries of “FollowUp,” which is the main force in the retail marketing business, are Jach Technology SpA (Chile), Alianza FollowUp S.A.S. (Colombia), INTELIGENXIA S.A. (Chile), FollowUp Peru S.A.C. (Peru), FollowUp Customer Experience S.L. (Spain), Alianza There are a total of 6 companies in FollowUp Panama S.A. (Panama). The plan is to continue creating innovation in various business models by further utilizing AI technology and data analysis in the future.
In 2024/2, President and CEO Kento Hayashi resigned, and in response to this, the board of directors appointed Mr. Shinichi Iwata, the company's representative director and vice president and CFO, as the new president and CEO. In February of the same year, the company resolved to make a basic agreement on a comprehensive business alliance with Bulk Holdings ＜2467＞. As a result of this partnership, major synergy is expected between MSS Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Bulk Holdings, whose main focus is marketing research and sales promotion, and the company group, which has strengths in data analysis and AI. For this reason, the company made MSS a wholly owned subsidiary in 2024/7.
2. HISTORY
The company was established in July 2000 in Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, and became the forerunner of the big data boom. Risk monitoring/crisis response services on the internet were released in 2009/2 (the “Internet Reputation Risk Monitoring/Device Response Service” received the 2009 Good Design Award sponsored by the Japan Design Promotion Association), and in 2014/3, TBS Innovation Partners (same), which is a subsidiary of Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation (currently TBS Holdings ＜9401＞), as an underwriter A capital increase was implemented. In 2018/5, a capital and business alliance was concluded with ALM Co., Ltd., and a joint research and development system utilizing data analysis technology using AI was built, and in July of the same year, in addition to transferring the development/sales business of the retail store support tool “FollowUp” using in-store camera devices from ALM in Japan, a capital and business alliance was concluded with KDDI ＜9433＞ (capital and business alliance dissolved in June 2021), and a joint business development system utilizing image analysis and social media analysis I built it. In 2019/12, it acquired common stock of Jach Technology SpA, which carries out overseas development and sales business of the retail store support tool “FollowUp,” and made it a subsidiary. Then, in 2023/9, the “consulting and contract development business for related systems related to data analysis” was transferred from The ROOM4D Co., Ltd., and DSS, which is a subsidiary of the company, took over the “SES business (system development, data analysis, data utilization support, etc.)” from The ROOM Door Co., Ltd.
Furthermore, it was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (hereafter, Tokyo Stock Exchange) Mothers in 2014/12, and transitioned to the Tokyo Stock Exchange growth market due to a review of the market division of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2022/4. In 2024/2, a basic agreement on a comprehensive business alliance was signed with Bulk Holdings, and in 2024/4, a basic agreement for a business alliance was concluded with Supermicro.
3. Business strengths and what we should aim for
The company's strength is that it can collect and analyze necessary data from explosively increasing data using “large capacity data analysis technology,” which is its core technology, convert data into information with excellent analysis technology, and develop in-house products and services.
The company aims to be a “data section startup coalition” composed of technology startup companies promoting global expansion. We will create a joint enterprise group with a parent company (company) centered on analytical technology and a subsidiary (satellite company) that implements business improvement DX in each industry. As a specific construction flow, group companies responsible for the company's core technology detect market needs, form a new team to search for potential needs, and construct new solutions. Next, improvements (PMF) to fit market needs are carried out, and after the business is stabilized, spin-off (spin-off) is carried out. Companies that have been spun off will invest as early stage startup companies through the company's funds. Ultimately, it also contributes to synergy with group companies by utilizing the global expansion flow already formed by the company group.
(Written by FISCO Visiting Analyst Hiroshi Nakayama)