Fukuya joined a trading company handling textile products as a new graduate. While in charge of everything from planning and production to sales, Fukuya was stunned by the amount of waste. The wish to “do something about good things being thrown away” and a long-held dream to “start a business someday” came together, and Fukuya founded the company in spring 2015.
Highly rated for its social value and marketability, the company was selected, one year after founding, for the first cohort of the OIH acceleration program (OSAP). From there began days of scaling the business in earnest. Through refining the business with the assigned mentor and meetings with VCs in Tokyo, the company decided to put front and center not its main business but its B2B flea market site, which at the time was still just an idea. The company ended up pivoting its business one year after founding, and this bet paid off.
What is “dead stock” for one company can be a “resource” for another. The company defined its unique value as creating a platform that brings them together. It entrusted a designer, one of the founding members, with building a website that is easy for users to use, while Fukuya focused on sales, making use of connections from the previous job. Through many business meetings, Fukuya became convinced of the business’s growth potential: “This platform is definitely going to grow!”
Creating a new market by combining what already exists with new ideas: a true innovator. Not only for the uniqueness of the idea, but for thoroughly realizing the user experience, the company began attracting media attention and succeeded in raising funds.
Asked for the secret of success, Fukuya says it is putting your wishes into words. When you say, “I want to do this!”, people connect you with new encounters, such as, “Then why not meet this person?”, or give you advice such as, “This business plan doesn’t answer what VCs want to know, so you should work on it like this.”When a strong will about what you want to do comes across, people around you will always help. That may be what is wonderful about the Kansai startup scene.
Interview year: 2017