Educational Design

What Educational Design does

Educational Design Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese digital education company founded in January 2013 by Shintaro Wakita and headquartered in Tokyo, with a secondary office in Shizuoka. The company develops and operates Digitan (デジタネ), an AI & programming educational platform for children that uses Roblox-based modules to teach creation, publishing, and improvement skills. The product is positioned for the Japanese K–12 segment, targeting elementary, middle, and high school students through both curriculum licensing to schools and direct IT instruction services in programming and creative coursework.

The business operates a hybrid B2B/B2B2C model. Revenue is generated primarily through (i) subscription-style licensing of the Digitan curriculum and teaching materials to educational institutions, and (ii) professional-services contracts where Educational Design delivers programming and creative classes directly into schools. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales to schools with a self-serve web platform at digitane.jp. The company maintains a visible partner network of major Japanese enterprises — including Fujitsu Client Computing, JAL, KDDI, Walt Disney Japan, GMO Media, and Mitsukoshi Isetan — alongside named school customers such as Shizuoka Gakuen, Shizuoka Seikoin, and Shizuoka Salesio. Recurring engagement assets include the annual AI & Programming Contest (now in its 8th edition) and the Shizuoka Prefecture XR Endowed Lecture Series co-hosted with transcosmos and Metaverse Japan.

Technically, the Digitan platform is a content-and-curriculum product rather than an infrastructure product. The company has no published API or SDK, no disclosed proprietary AI/ML models, and no research publications; its differentiator is the curated, Roblox-mediated learning experience and the enterprise/school partnership network. In 2026, Educational Design raised its first institutional capital (approximately ¥100M / ~$695K led by Shizuoka regional investors) and reached a content milestone with a Roblox game exceeding 2 million total visits following television exposure, indicating active but still early-stage commercial scaling.

Name

Educational Design

Legal name

Educational Design Co., Ltd. (エデュケーショナル・デザイン株式会社)

Website

https://Educationaldesign.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Tokyo-based education technology company founded in 2013 that develops the Digitan AI & programming learning platform for Japanese K–12 students using Roblox, and delivers curriculum licensing plus direct IT instruction services to elementary, middle, and high schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Coding Education

NAICS

Computer Training (61142), Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Math & STEM Learning Technology (incl. Coding/Robotics Platforms) (EDAJAMAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Core Digital Curriculum & Courseware (Full Programs & Units) (EDAFACAA), Curriculum, Lesson Planning & Instructional Content Platforms (EDAJAMAD)

Keywords

• K-12 coding education
• AI literacy curriculum
• Children's programming platform
• Digital learning content
• School IT instruction

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Digitan Educational Platform Licensing: The company develops and operates the Digitan AI & programming educational platform, generating revenue through licensing to schools and educational institutions. Schools pay for access to the curriculum and teaching materials.
2. School IT Instruction Services: Provides programming and creative coursework to elementary, middle, and high schools, generating revenue through service contracts with educational institutions.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Educational Design develops and operates "Digitan" (デジタネ), an AI & programming educational platform for children that transforms play into learning through Roblox-based gamified modules. The company licenses the Digitan curriculum to elementary, middle, and high schools and also delivers direct IT programming and creative instruction services to those institutions in Japan.

Product overview

Educational Design operates as a digital education company with デジタネ (DIGITANE) as its core AI & Programming educational platform, which transforms play into learning for young people. The company also provides school IT education services offering programming and creative classes for elementary, middle, and high schools. The portfolio is unified around digital education delivery using modern technology platforms including Roblox as a hands-on learning tool for teaching creation, publishing, and improvement skills to youth in the AI era.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digitan (DIGITANE / デジタネ) AI & Programming Educational Platform An AI & programming educational platform designed for children that transforms play into learning. It provides AI and programming learning materials for elementary, middle, and high school students, featuring Roblox-based modules that teach creation, publishing, and improvement skills in the AI era. Licensed to schools and educational institutions.
• School IT Instruction (学校向けIT授業) Direct IT programming and creative coursework delivered to elementary, middle, and high schools in Japan. Offered as professional services alongside the Digitan curriculum licensing, addressing schools' shortage of qualified instructors for coding education.

Quantifiable outcome

• Roblox game '文房具たちの放課後' achieved over 2 million total visits

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• transcosmos inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2026Educational Design partnered with transcosmos to deliver a joint presentation at the Shizuoka Prefecture XR Endowed Lecture Series 2025. The collaboration focused on using Roblox as a hands-on learning platform to teach creation, publishing, and improvement skills to young people in the AI era. Both companies indicated plans to expand educational outreach through future seminars, workshops, and potential game jam events.
• Metaverse JapancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of the Shizuoka Prefecture XR Endowed Lecture Series, partnering with Educational Design and transcosmos to discuss digital talent development and XR social implementation.
• Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted the Shizuoka Prefecture XR Endowed Lecture Series at their Shizuoka Ekimae Campus, providing the venue and collaborating on digital talent development initiatives.
• すららネット株式会社 (Surala Net Co., Ltd.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a major business partner in the company's partner network, suggesting collaboration in educational content or distribution.
• TIS株式会社 (TIS Inc.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a major business partner, indicating business collaboration in technology or educational services.
• KDDI株式会社 (KDDI Corporation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a major business partner, indicating collaboration in telecommunications or digital education services.
• ウォルト・迪士尼ーランド・カンパニー (Walt Disney Japan Co., Ltd.)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerListed as a partner, suggesting educational content or marketing collaboration leveraging Disney brand.
• 日本航空株式会社 (Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a major business partner, suggesting collaboration in employee training or youth education programs.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Classi: Classi is a Japanese K-12 digital learning and school-communication platform used by secondary schools. It overlaps Educational Design on the school-licensing GTM motion and is a relevant peer for school-facing digital curriculum distribution in Japan.
• D-School: D-School is a Japanese programming-education service for children that runs a school-licensing program (the URL linked from Educational Design's site for licensing). It is a direct peer in K-12 coding curriculum licensing and consumer-facing youth coding education.
• TechAcademy: TechAcademy (by KDDI Group / Code Republic) runs online programming and AI training programs in Japan for students and working professionals. It overlaps with Digitan in coding/AI curriculum and adjacent youth/beginner programming learners.
• Progate: Progate is a Japan-focused online programming education platform with both consumer and school/business tiers. Its school-facing tier and beginner-friendly coding curriculum directly overlap Educational Design's Digitan offering in target customers and use case.
• Life is Tech: Life is Tech is a leading Japanese IT and programming education provider for middle and high school students, offering school-facing curriculum, camps, and corporate digital-talent programs. It is one of the closest direct peers to Educational Design's Digitan platform in the Japanese youth-coding market.
• Surala Net: Surala Net provides adaptive learning and digital curriculum for Japanese K-12 schools and is itself listed as a business partner of Educational Design. It is a direct comparable as another Japanese school-licensed digital curriculum provider in the same buyer segment.

Emerging players

• Tynker: Tynker is a K-12 coding education platform offering game-based (including Minecraft- and Roblox-style) programming content for children. It is highly comparable to Digitan on product approach (gamified, game-engine-based coding for kids) and target age range.
• Code.org: Code.org is a global non-profit providing free K-12 computer science curriculum and Hour of Code activities. It is comparable to Digitan as a K-12 coding-curriculum platform and a benchmark for the global coding-edtech category.

Broad incumbents

• Benesse Corporation: Benesse is a major Japanese education and publishing incumbent with a broad portfolio across K-12 publishing, digital learning, and school services. It is comparable as a larger, established player operating in the same Japanese school curriculum market.
• Recruit (Study Sapuri / educational services): Recruit operates digital learning brands such as Study Sapuri targeting Japanese students, and is a broad incumbent in Japan's education sector. It is relevant as a larger Japanese incumbent with overlapping K-12 digital learning audiences and distribution.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 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 Educational Design