What Rakumon does

Rakumon Inc. (ラクモン株式会社) is a Japanese education technology company founded on February 26, 2021 and headquartered at LG YOKOHAMA INNOVATION CENTER in Yokohama. The company operates a mobile-first, chat-based Q&A platform that connects K-12 students (elementary through high school, plus university entrance exam candidates) with a vetted pool of 6,000+ teachers drawn from Tokyo University, Kyoto University, and 120+ other former imperial/national universities. Students submit homework and exam questions via photo or text and receive chat responses, with advertised average response times of 1–5 minutes and 24/7/365 availability across 18 academic subjects. An optional video-call booster and 50-minute scheduled Online Teacher Service extend the product into synchronous tutoring.

The underlying technology stack includes native iOS and Android apps, AWS and GCP/Firebase cloud infrastructure, Stripe for payments, and Agora.io for video sessions. Rakumon applies AI to monitor and analyze communications for safety, compliance, and service improvement, but the core Q&A delivery is human-led. The business model combines (i) consumer pay-as-you-go question tickets at ¥280–¥320 per question, (ii) unlimited-question subscription plans at ¥9,900–¥16,800/month, (iii) an Oshioshi Booster add-on for priority and video responses, and (iv) a B2B enterprise channel launched in 2024 that sells bulk ticket bundles (¥5,000–¥110,000) to tutoring centers, schools, and prep franchises via a dedicated admin portal. As of December 2022 the platform had 30,000 registered students, and by February 2024 had delivered over 200,000 question responses with a 98% satisfaction rate. Rakumon is a subsidiary of RGS Corporation and was accepted into Microsoft for Startups in 2021.

Name

Rakumon

Legal name

ラクモン株式会社

Website

https://rakumon.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rakumon is a Japanese EdTech platform that connects K-12 students with 6,000+ vetted teachers from top Japanese universities via mobile chat-based Q&A, supported by subscription, ticket, and B2B enterprise plans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Tutoring and Education Services

NAICS

Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Tutoring & Homework Help Marketplaces (On-Demand) (EDAFAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Homework Tutoring & Academic Support (Subject Tutoring) (HSAAAHAC), Enterprise/School-District Virtual Tutoring Providers (B2B2C) (EDANAGAF), Virtual Test Prep & Online Supplemental Instruction (K–12) (EDAJADAI)

Keywords

• Online tutoring app
• Chat-based homework help
• K-12 education platform
• Subscription tutoring service
• Enterprise edtech solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Yokohama

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, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Individual student question tickets: Students purchase question tickets (5 or 20 tickets per pack) valid for 6 months. Each ticket covers one small-question (小問) submission. This is a usage-based, pay-as-you-go stream.
2. Individual student subscriptions (質問し放題): Monthly or multi-month subscription plans offering unlimited question submissions within the covered period. Plans range from ¥9,900/month (12-month bundle) to ¥16,800/month (auto-renewing monthly plan). Auto-renewal is offered for monthly plans.
3. Booster add-on purchases: Students can purchase booster add-ons when submitting questions to prioritize their request and potentially receive more detailed or video-call explanations. Pricing follows the same per-unit structure as tickets.
4. B2B enterprise question tickets: Rakumon sells bulk ticket bundles to tutoring centers, schools, and test-prep franchises. Plans range from ¥5,000 (Light, 20 tickets) to ¥110,000 (Volume, 500 tickets). No setup fees or recurring fixed costs are charged.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rakumon operates a mobile chat-based Q&A tutoring app where K-12 students submit homework or exam questions via photo or text and receive explanations from a network of 6,000+ verified teachers, primarily recruited from Tokyo University, Kyoto University, and other top Japanese universities. The service is available 24/7/365 across 18 academic subjects at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, with average response times of 1–5 minutes. It also offers a B2B enterprise plan that supplies tutoring centers, schools, and test-prep franchises with bulk question tickets and an admin dashboard for managing student accounts.

Product overview

Rakumon operates as a unified platform combining two service modes: the core Q&A chat service and the online teacher video tutoring service. The product ecosystem includes the main Rakumon consumer app for students seeking homework help, the online video teacher service for scheduled live tutoring sessions, and Rakumon for Business—an enterprise B2B sub-brand offering bulk ticket packages and admin dashboards for tutoring schools and educational institutions. Supporting modules include ticket-based and subscription-based pricing plans (質問チケットプラン and 質問し放題プラン) and the おしおしブースター premium add-on for enhanced tutoring priority and quality. The platform covers 18 subjects across elementary, middle, and high school levels with 24/7 availability from verified university student and professional teachers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rakumon (ラクモン) Online tutoring and Q&A mobile app connecting K-12 students in Japan with verified teachers (mostly from Tokyo, Kyoto, and other top Japanese universities) for real-time chat-based homework help. Students photograph or type questions and receive explanations within an average of 1–5 minutes, covering 18 academic subjects across elementary, middle, and high school.
• Online Teacher Service (オンライン家庭教育師サービス) Live 1-on-1 video tutoring service where students book 50-minute sessions with teachers via the Rakumon app for scheduled in-depth instruction beyond the chat Q&A format.
• Rakumon for Business (塾・学校・予備校さま向けプラン) B2B enterprise solution for tutoring centers, cram schools, preparatory schools, and educational institutions. Provides bulk ticket purchasing, admin dashboard for monitoring student progress, and student account issuance, with three pricing tiers (Light ¥5,000/20 tickets, Standard ¥24,000/100 tickets, Volume ¥110,000/500 tickets).
• Question Ticket Plan (質問チケットプラン) Pay-as-you-go ticket bundles where students purchase 5 or 20 question tickets valid for 6 months; each ticket covers one small question (小問) submission at ¥280–¥320 per question.
• Unlimited Questions Subscription (質問し放題プラン) Monthly subscription plans offering unlimited question submissions across 16+ academic subjects, with 12-month (¥9,900/month), 3-month (¥13,000/month), 6-month (¥12,000/month), and auto-renewing monthly (¥16,800/month) options.
• Oshioshi Booster (おしおしブースター) Premium add-on available in 5-packs or 20-packs that increases teacher compensation in exchange for priority responses, more detailed explanations, and access to video call explanations for complex questions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Potential 52% annual cost savings vs. average national juku expenditure (¥336,300/year public high school avg per MEXT R3 survey vs. ¥9,900/month subscription)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and major.

• 株式会社ハグカム (HugCome, Inc.)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 30 May 2022Business partnership with HugCome, operator of the GLOBAL CROWN online English conversation school for children. Rakumon users who register for GLOBAL CROWN through Rakumon receive a free lesson ticket. The partnership allows cross-promotion between the two online learning services targeting students and families.
• Microsoft CorporationmajorTechnology or Integration · 27 July 2021Rakumon was accepted into the Microsoft for Startups global program. The acceptance grants access to Azure cloud infrastructure, Microsoft's partner network for co-promotion and R&D, and a global network for identifying partnership opportunities and potential overseas expansion.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• StudySapuri (Benesse): Benesse's flagship online tutoring service in Japan offering live online classes and Q&A. A broader incumbent with deeper marketing and parent brand recognition but less specialized in on-demand chat-based homework help.
• Khan Academy: Free global online learning platform offering video lessons and practice across K-12 subjects. A broader incumbent with free content that competes with Rakumon's paid homework help on the demand side.
• Try IT (For-A): One of Japan's largest online tutoring providers offering live interactive classes for K-12. A broader incumbent with broader course offerings but less focus on the asynchronous chat Q&A model.
• Chegg: US-listed homework help and textbook rental platform with on-demand Q&A tutoring. A broader global incumbent in the same homework help category, though primarily English-language and US-focused.
• Gakken (Gakken Holdings): Major Japanese educational publisher and tutoring company with extensive K-12 content and juku networks. A broad incumbent that could launch competing digital Q&A offerings leveraging its brand.

Regional players

• Willink (個別指導Wam): Japanese private one-on-one tutoring chain that competes for the same B2B enterprise tutoring center customers. Regional player with a different delivery model (in-person vs. chat) but overlapping target customer base.

Direct peers

• Photomath: AI-powered mobile app that solves math problems from photos. While more AI-native, it directly competes for the same Japanese student homework help use case Rakumon addresses via image-based question submission.
• Brainly: Global homework help marketplace connecting students with verified experts via Q&A. Operates in Japan and offers similar peer-to-peer Q&A tutoring for K-12 academic subjects, making it the closest comparable platform business model.
• Qanda (Mathpresso): Photo-based math Q&A app from South Korea that operates in Japan and other Asian markets. Solves a similar photo-snapping-to-get-help workflow and serves comparable K-12 students on mobile.

Emerging players

• Yup.com: On-demand math tutoring app using photo question submission and live tutors. An emerging player with partial overlap on the mobile homework help workflow targeting students.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Rakumon_jp

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Rakumon