Company Background
Hacarus was founded in Kyoto as an AI startup in 2014. Our strength is the ability to extract features from small amounts of data and the high interpretability of Sparse Modeling technology. We apply Sparse Modeling technology to AI.
The current mainstream technology of AI, Deep Learning, requires a large amount of data for training and has the problem that the decision-making process of AI is a black-box. Another problem is that training on the edge side is difficult because a large amount of computing resources are required in the training phase. We are trying to solve these problems with our unique AI.
Kyoto, where our headquarters is located, is a hub of well-known companies representing manufacturing and life-sciences industries, and has many years of accumulated know-how and experience in these industries. By leveraging this know-how and experience, we are focusing on the development of AI that does not rely solely on data. We listen closely to the opinions of the people in the industries and work on the realization of AI that can coexist with humans.
Mission and Code of Conduct
Mission
Extend human life expectancy to 120 years
Code of Conduct
- It’s up to you to make your job exciting or boring.
- Don’t be domestic. Be global.
- Don’t follow mainstream. Be unique.
Kyoto head office
Dai 12 Hase Building 5A
Hashibenkei-cho, Nakagyo-ku Kyoto, 604-8151 Japan
Tokyo branch office
Kyobashi Edoguran 3F,
Kyoubashi 2-2-1, Chuouku Tokyo, 104-0031 Japan
Manila branch office
1408-A 88 Corporate Center, 141 Valero Street cor., Sedeño Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City
Leadership team
Kenshin Fujiwara
B.S. of Computer Science from California State University. Worked on the GPU library development for PlayStation2 at Sony Computer Entertainment. Co-founded the first startup at the age of 26 and served a co-founder/CTO role at multiple technology startups. Founded Hacarus in January 2014.
Takashi Someda
Joined Hacarus in October 2016. M.S of Statistics and Information Science from Kyoto University Graduate School of Informatics. Founded the startup after being adopted by the Information Processing Promotion Agency. Responsible for software development at Sun Microsystems, web application development at Synergy Marketing, and growth hacking at Nulab prior to Hacarus.
Naoki Kitora
Joined Hacarus in April 2018 as Chief Data Officer. B.S. of Engineering from Kansai University. Worked as a programmer and infrastructure engineer at Synergy Marketing as well as data analysis and machine learning from 2011. Presented papers at the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and the Institute of Language Processing.
Akihiro Hojo
Joined Hacarus in October 2016. B.A. from Kansai Foreign Language University. Worked on accounting audits and data analytics for major financial institutions at Tohmatsu, and business management consulting for startups at Tohmatsu Venture Support. Holds certified public accountants and tax accountants.
Adrian Sossna
M.B.A & B.A from Doshisha University, Yonsei University, Fudan University, Chinese University of Hong Kong and University of Gothenburg. Published Business Case writer with Ivey / Harvard Business Press. Experience from Start-Up Marketing for the IoT, Automotive and Cybersecurity fields prior to joining Hacarus.
Advisors
Masayuki Ohzeki
Kaoru Kawamoto
Kentaro Ohki
Team members
Marcel Takagi
Shusaku Inoue
Hajime Tsurumaki
Yushi Miyazaki
Tomomi Kikumoto
Mitsutaka Shiraishi
Masaru Kimura
Niño Eclarin
Christine Alcachupas
Aldrin Bautista
Kendrick Mercardo
Keiichiro Takahashi
Ryuji Masui
Ippei Usami
Yoshinobu Ogura
Junpei Goto
Takuma Tanaka
Jumon Nozaki
Yohei Maeda
Yuuki Kawano
Genki Takahashi
Hayato Futami
Megumi Minato
Rikka Kaijo
Chief Health Officer
Hacarus is not only innovating in AI technology – we are also exploring new ways to keep our team healthy and happy.
With our Chief Health Officer, we have put a focus on the well-being of each of our team members. Engineers, who spend many hours every day in front of a computer, are likely to develop back issues from their sitting posture. At the Hacarus office, each team member can take part in exercises several times per week, to avoid such issues.
Machine Learning Community
Our team members are actively engaged in the local and international machine learning community. As part of this engagement, we co-organize the monthly machine learning meetup in Kansai.
We also release some of our software projects as Open Source on GitHub. This way we strengthen our dialog and knowledge exchange with the AI tech community.
Check out our projects on GitHub.
Corporate Profile
Company name
Hacarus Inc.
CEO
Kenshin Fujiwara
Established
January 14, 2014
Investors
Other Notable Investors
- Shinichi Okamoto (Former CTO of Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Hiroyasu Koma (GLM Co., Ltd. CEO)
- Taizo Otsuka (KAKAXI Inc. CEO)
- Kenshin Fujiwara
Technology Partners
Advisors
- Masayuki Ohzeki (Tohoku University, Graduate School of Information Science)
- Kaoru Kawamoto (Shiga Universiy, Data Science Department)
- Ohki Kentaro (Kyoto University, Graduate School of Informatics)
Main bank
- Mizuho Bank Kyoto-Chuo Branch
- Kyoto Chuo Shinkin Bank Main Branch
- Bank of Kyoto Main Branch
- Senshu Ikeda Bank Kyoto Branch
Customers
… and many others