Manabi-aid

What Manabi-aid does

Manabi-aid (株式会社学びエイド) is a Tokyo-based EdTech company founded in May 2015 that operates a video-based learning platform serving the Japanese tutoring school (学習塾) market. The company's flagship product, Manabi-aid Master (学びエイドマスター), is a learning management system that combines a library of 70,000+ video lessons produced by a network of 100+ elite "Iron Instructors" (鉄人講師)—drawn from leading Japanese test prep schools—with student progress tracking, attendance management, grade management, and parent communication tools. The platform is used by 2,000+ tutoring schools, with a flagship deployment across NOVA Holdings' ITTO Individual Guidance chain covering all 1,227 locations as of October 2025. Manabi-aid Master integrates the Manabi-aid Port student management module, the Noborishita entry/exit management tool, and an Original Class Distribution feature enabling schools to distribute proprietary video content alongside Manabi-aid's library for blended learning.

The company's product portfolio extends to the Tetsuyobi online preparatory school with live instruction for high school students, the Essay Review Dojo for comprehensive university entrance exam preparation, and English language courses that integrate EnglishCentral's AI-powered pronunciation technology. Manabi-aid also operates THE DOOR, a company-operated member-only tutoring salon in Tokyo for serious high school students, and publishes co-branded reference books and textbook-aligned video courses with publishers including Obunsha, Kogaku Publishing, Takeda Juku, and Kyodo Printing. Distribution channels span direct B2B sales to tutoring schools, white-label video content embedded in partner platforms such as Kokuyo's Clearnote and Carry Campus apps (reaching 1.2 million monthly active users and 600,000 downloads respectively), and licensing arrangements with publishers through its Manabi-aid for Enterprise platform.

Manabi-aid generates revenue primarily through monthly B2B subscriptions from tutoring schools, with pricing tiers such as the 高等部まるっとプラン at ¥35,000/month, supplemented by content licensing royalties from publishers, B2C online school subscriptions, and membership fees from THE DOOR. The company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market on May 28, 2024 under ticker 184A and has raised strategic capital from K&P Partners (2018, 2020), Obunsha Ventures (2020), Kyodo Printing (2023), and NOVA Holdings (2025). As of April 2025, Manabi-aid employed 33 regular staff with 15 additional temporary workers, and had ¥491.2 million in stated capital.

Name

Manabi-aid

Legal name

株式会社学びエイド

Website

https://corp.manabi-aid.jp

Company type

Public

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Manabi-aid is a Tokyo-based EdTech company that provides a video-based learning platform and student management tools to Japanese tutoring schools, leveraging a network of 100+ elite instructors and 70,000+ video lessons to serve 2,000+ school clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

EdTech Learning Platform

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Academic Tutoring Services (Subject-Specific & General) (EDAJALAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Note-Taking, Reading & Comprehension Strategies (EDANADAC)

Keywords

• Video-based learning
• Tutoring school management
• Online education platform
• Student progress tracking
• Test preparation videos

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. 学びエイドマスター B2B Subscription: Monthly subscription service for tutoring schools providing access to video content library and student management tools. Schools pay recurring fees based on usage or tier.
2. 学びエイド for Enterprise: Enterprise licensing of video content to publishers and education service providers for inclusion in textbooks and learning platforms.
3. 鉄人予備校 Online School: Online test prep service including direct student subscriptions and school partnerships (高等部まるっとプラン at ¥35,000/month).
4. THE DOOR Direct Operation: Company-operated tutoring salon for high school students offering membership-based learning services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Manabi-aid provides a video-based learning platform and student/school management SaaS (Manabi-aid Master) primarily to Japanese tutoring schools (学習塾), featuring a library of 70,000+ lessons delivered by a network of 100+ elite "Iron Instructor" tutors. The company also runs a direct-operated tutoring salon (THE DOOR), an online test prep school (Tetsuyobi), and licenses video content to education publishers via its Manabi-aid for Enterprise platform.

Product overview

Manabi-aid operates a multi-product EdTech platform centered on video-based learning services for the Japanese tutoring industry. The core offering consists of Manabi-aid Master—a platform combining Iron Man instructor video lessons with student and school management tools—supplemented by the Manabi-aid Port learning management module, the online Tetsuyobi School, and the proprietary THE DOOR tutoring school. Additional products include seasonal video courses aligned with Kogaku Publishing textbooks (映像ウイ닝 series), the High School Spiral video curriculum, the English 4 Skills course with AI pronunciation evaluation via EnglishCentral, the Noborishita entry/exit management tool, and the Essay Review Dojo for comprehensive entrance exam preparation. The Manabi-aid for Enterprise platform extends video content production to publishing partners, while the 一冊逆転プロジェクト co-published reference book series with Takeda Juku and Obunsha provides textbook-embedded video learning. Products serve both B2B (tutoring schools via Master) and B2C (individual learners, enterprise partners) channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 学びエイドマスター (Manabi-aid Master): 学習効果を追求する「映像授業」と塾運営の効率化を支援する「管理機能」を搭載した学習塾向けの映像学習サービス
• 学びエイドポート (Manabi-aid Port)
• 鉄人予備校（テツヨビ）
• THE DOOR
• 登下守（のぼりしたまもる）

Products and services

• Manabi-aid Master (学びエイドマスター) A B2B SaaS learning platform for tutoring schools combining video-based lessons (Iron Instructor network) with student progress tracking, attendance, parent communication, and school administration tools.
• THE DOOR (ザ・ドア)
• Tetsuyobi Online School (鉄人予備校テツヨビ)
• Manabi-aid for Enterprise

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,000+ tutoring schools have adopted Manabi-aid Master.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• ITTO Individual Guidance School (ITTO個別指導学院)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 3 October 2025Largest single deployment - all 1,227 ITTO chain locations adopted Manabi-aid Master as core learning platform.
• NOVA Holdings (NOVAホールディングス)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025Capital and business partnership with flagship deployment of Manabi-aid Master across ITTO chain (1,227 schools). First collaboration under the capital partnership, with scope for further joint development of tutoring operations systems and group synergies.
• Kokuyo (コクヨ)coreTechnology or Integration · 31 March 2025Integration of Manabi-aid video content into Kokuyo Clearnote (1.2M users) and Carry Campus (600K downloads) learning apps. Free content from April 2025, paid version with 10,000 videos planned for July 2025.
• Kyodo Printing (共同印刷)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 November 2023Capital and business partnership for digital content development. Kyodo Printing gains access to Manabi-aid's 70,000+ video content production expertise to support their education market expansion. Joint development of educational digital services aligned with new entrance exam systems.
• Takeda Juku / A.ver (武田塾)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2020Joint publishing of 一冊逆転プロジェクト textbook series with integrated video lessons. Manabi-aid instructors serve as primary authors, Takeda Juku's Takeru Nakamori supervises curriculum.
• Obunsha (旺文社)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2020Co-publishing partner for 一冊逆転プロジェクト textbook series. Manages distribution through established retail channels.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• atama plus: AI-driven adaptive learning platform sold to Japanese tutoring schools (juku), competing head-on with Manabi-aid for the same B2B k-12 tutoring customer base with a different (AI-personalized) pedagogy.
• Surala Net (すららネット): Online adaptive learning service distributed to tutoring schools and directly to students in Japan — closely comparable to Manabi-aid Master in offering web-based tutoring content and management tools.
• Qubena (COMPASS): AI-powered math adaptive learning platform targeting Japanese tutoring schools, with shared B2B sales motion and k-12 subject focus — a direct competitor in the digital juku stack.

Broad incumbents

• Study Sapuri (Benesse): Benesse's video-based online tutoring and test prep subscription service; overlapping product category (video lessons for entrance exams) but operated by a major established education incumbent with broader portfolio.
• Benesse Holdings: Largest Japanese education conglomerate operating K-12, test prep, and digital learning services including Study Sapuri and Classi — represents the entrenched incumbent Manabi-aid competes against and partners with.
• Kawai Juku (河合塾): Major Japanese test prep and tutoring conglomerate with its own digital offerings; comparable in subject coverage and exam focus, though primarily brick-and-mortar — Manabi-aid's CEO previously worked here.

Emerging players

• Classi: SoftBank/Benesse joint venture school learning platform (LMS + content) for Japanese high schools; shares the school-side delivery model and an early integration history with Manabi-aid (2015 partnership).

Others

• NOVA Holdings: Parent group of ITTO Individual Gakushu Jyuku and Manabi-aid's largest single-chain customer/investor; adjacent rather than competing since the relationship is partnership-driven, but a strategically entangled counterparty.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCBVefkMYULpZAO0lTXJnrDg
• Xx.com/manabiaid
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Manabi-aid