Material Digital

What Material Digital does

Material Digital Inc. (株式会社マテリアルデジタル) is a Japan-based SaaS digital marketing company headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, with an additional office in Osaka. The company sells an integrated customer experience platform built around two core products: Flipdesk, a web customer service tool that analyzes visitor behavior (browsing, purchase history, traffic source, cart activity) to deliver targeted pop-ups, banners, and personalization campaigns; and Cross Talk, a machine-learning hybrid chatbot combining scenario-based and Q&A modes, with native data integration into Flipdesk for contextually timed engagement and bot-to-human handoff. A third product, Mamoreru, launched in January 2025 and extends the portfolio into cybersecurity (vulnerability diagnosis, penetration testing, threat intelligence, crisis management), with technology sourced through partnerships with South Korea's S2W and Vietnam's Viettel Cyber Security.

Revenue is generated primarily through monthly SaaS subscriptions (Flipdesk tiers from ¥3,980/month entry-level Light to ¥50,000+/month Standard), chatbot subscriptions for Cross Talk, premium consulting support add-on plans at ¥100,000/month, digital marketing consulting services spanning strategy and creative execution, and the newer Mamoreru cybersecurity stream. The company distributes through direct sales to mid-market and enterprise clients, self-serve for SMBs, and channel partnerships with major Japanese EC platforms (makeshop byGMO, ecforce, Color Me Shop). Material Digital originated in April 2019 as Flipdesk Inc. under DECEM Group, joined Material Group via capital and business alliance in February 2021, was rebranded in July 2023, acquired nano color's digital creative consulting business in October 2023, and operates as a subsidiary of publicly listed Material Group Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, ticker 156A) since the parent's March 2024 IPO. Leadership comprises President Aozaki Sou and directors Kawabata Kosuke (creative/brand strategy) and Uchida Shusuke (web advertising). The customer base spans 1,600+ companies across 2,000+ sites, with named enterprise references including Iris Ohyama, Mitsukoshi Isetan (meeco), As One (AXEL), and Premier Anti-Aging.

Name

Material Digital

Legal name

株式会社マテリアルデジタル

Website

https://materialdigital.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Material Digital is a Japan-based SaaS company offering Flipdesk web personalization, Cross Talk chatbot, and Mamoreru cybersecurity tools, serving e-commerce operators and consumer brands with conversion optimization, behavioral targeting, and brand protection services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marketing Automation Software

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAMALAE

Marketing Automation, CRM & Lifecycle Messaging

Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Advertising, Marketing & Creator Monetization Platforms

Keywords

• Web customer service
• Chatbot automation
• Conversion optimization
• Behavioral personalization
• Digital marketing

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. Flipdesk SaaS Subscriptions: Monthly/annual subscriptions for the Flipdesk web personalization tool, with pricing tiers for different site scales. Core revenue driver. Revenue recognized over subscription term.
2. Cross Talk Chatbot Subscriptions: Monthly subscriptions for the Cross Talk chatbot, often sold in conjunction with Flipdesk. Part of the CX tool suite.
3. Digital Marketing Consulting: Consulting services covering business management strategy, marketing strategy, and communication/creative. Full-service marketing support from strategy to execution.
4. Cyber Security Services (マモレル): Cybersecurity services including vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, threat intelligence, and crisis management consulting for corporate brand protection.
5. Support Plan Add-ons: Optional paid consulting support plans providing dedicated account management, scenario design, and performance review. Premium support tier.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Material Digital operates SaaS products for website visitor behavior-based personalization (Flipdesk), a hybrid scenario-and-QA chatbot (Cross Talk), and a cybersecurity service (Mamoreru), complemented by full-funnel digital marketing consulting spanning business management strategy, marketing strategy, and communication/creative execution. Flipdesk and Cross Talk share a unified behavioral data layer enabling cross-channel personalization for e-commerce operators and brand owners.

Product overview

Material Digital operates a multi-product digital marketing and CX technology portfolio centered on two core SaaS products: Flipdesk (web guest service/conversion optimization tool) and Cross Talk (machine learning chatbot). These are complemented by Flipdesk Light (entry-level pricing tier), Mamoreru (cybersecurity service launched 2025), and AI-augmented features including Scenario AI, HTML Button Auto-Generation, FAQ Bot, and Heatmap Function. The product ecosystem is unified by shared behavioral data (visit/browse/purchase) — Flipdesk collects visitor data and Cross Talk uses it to trigger contextually timed dialogues, while the AI features automate content creation workflows. The company also offers digital marketing consulting spanning business management strategy, marketing strategy, and communication/creative services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Flipdesk (フリップデスク): Web customer service tool that delivers targeted promotional messages and customer interactions based on visitor browsing, purchase, and behavioral data to improve conversion rates and customer experience (CX).
• Cross Talk (クロスstalk)
• Mamoreru (マモレル)

Products and services

• Flipdesk Web guest service (WEB接客) tool that analyzes site visitor behavior (visits, browsing, purchases) and automatically delivers targeted banners, pop-ups, coupons, and chat support to improve conversion rates and customer experience for e-commerce operators and brand websites.
• Cross Talk Hybrid chatbot supporting both scenario-based (conversational flow) and QA-based modes using machine learning with Japanese language tolerance (loanword, kana, abbreviations). Integrates with Flipdesk to trigger contextually timed web guest service, supports diagnostic content, surveys, product recommendations, and human chat handoff.
• Mamoreru (マモレル) Cybersecurity service covering vulnerability diagnosis, website and server health checks, penetration testing, breach investigation, threat intelligence, and red team exercises for brand value protection. Includes crisis management consulting and incident PR support through the Material Group for corporate clients.
• Flipdesk Light Entry-level subscription plan for the Flipdesk tool, targeting startups and small-scale sites. Initial cost free, monthly fee ¥3,980 (beta), covers core Flipdesk features for up to 1 domain with credit card self-serve signup.
• Digital Marketing Solution Consulting Full-order digital marketing consulting services covering business management strategy, marketing strategy, and communication/creative execution for mid-market and enterprise clients, delivered via direct sales engagement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Conversion rate increased by up to 500% compared to previous tool (osharewalker case)
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability8 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• S2W, Inc. (韩国 / South Korea)coreTechnology or Integration · 25 April 2025S2W is a Korean data intelligence company that developed DarkBERT, the world's first AI language model specialized for dark web data. Material Digital partnered with S2W to strengthen its cybersecurity product 'マモレル' with advanced threat intelligence capabilities. S2W provides dark web monitoring, geopolitical threat analysis, and AI-powered data analytics. S2W was selected as one of the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers 100 in 2023 and provides solutions to INTERPOL and Asian government agencies.
• Viettel Cyber Security (VCS, 越南 / Vietnam)coreTechnology or Integration · 6 March 2025VCS is Vietnam's largest cybersecurity company and a subsidiary of Viettel Group (Southeast Asia's largest mobile operator, state-owned). VCS has 500+ security experts including 150+ international-certified white hackers, holds CREST accreditation, and has won multiple global cybersecurity awards (Pwn2Own 2023 & 2024 World #1). Partnered to strengthen 'マモレル' cybersecurity services with advanced vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.
• Cyberzeal (株式会社Cyberzeal, 日本 / Japan)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 6 March 2025Cyberzeal is the exclusive Japanese distributor for Viettel Cyber Security products. They provide cybersecurity implementation and operational support services in the Japanese market. Partnered to distribute VCS security solutions alongside Material Digital's 'マモレル' cybersecurity service.
• nano color (株式会社ナノカラー)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 August 2023nano color is an advertising creative production company specializing in brand marketing and communication strategy. Founded by 川端康介 (now Material Digital Board Member). Initial partnership (August 2023) was followed by full business transfer of nano color's digital creative consulting business to Material Digital (October 2023), bringing brand strategy and creative optimization capabilities in-house.
• GMO MakeShop (makeshop byGMO)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 13 April 2023GMO MakeShop is a leading EC site building SaaS (11 consecutive years of #1 in流通額). Flipdesk is available through makeshop app store with a special integration plan at ¥5,000/month including free initial fee and bundled onboarding. Makeshop operators can enable Flipdesk directly from their admin panel.
• SUPER STUDIO (ecforce)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 4 October 2022SUPER STUDIO's ecforce is an EC platform used by many manufacturers. Flipdesk joined ecforce partners certification program, enabling ecforce customers to access Flipdesk through the partner ecosystem.
• GMO Pepabo (カラーミーショップ)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 27 May 2020Flipdesk integrated into Color Me Shop app store, reaching 40,000+ EC operators on the platform. Special plan at ¥5,000/month with initial fee waiver for 2020 campaign period.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Klaviyo: US-based e-commerce-focused marketing automation and personalization platform. Klaviyo is the global standard for D2C/EC marketing automation and represents the kind of scaled competitor that Material Digital may face as it expands beyond Japan or as Klaviyo localizes for Japanese merchants.
• Braze: Global customer engagement platform with email, push, in-app, and web personalization capabilities. Braze represents the global incumbent threat to Material Digital, increasingly targeting Japanese enterprise customers with comprehensive multi-channel marketing automation suites.
• Salesforce (Marketing Cloud / Interaction Studio): Global CRM and marketing cloud incumbent with personalization capabilities through Interaction Studio. Salesforce competes broadly with Flipdesk at the enterprise tier, offering integrated CRM + marketing automation that smaller point solutions cannot match.

Direct peers

• KARTE (Plaid): Japan's leading CX platform for real-time web personalization and behavioral analytics. KARTE is the most direct competitor to Flipdesk in the Japanese web接客 (web customer service) category, serving similar e-commerce and enterprise customers with comparable real-time personalization capabilities.
• zeals: Tokyo-based conversational marketing chatbot platform focused on commerce and lead qualification. zeals directly competes with Cross Talk in the Japanese chatbot market, particularly for marketing use cases like product recommendation and sales conversion.
• Repro: Tokyo-based marketing platform providing web and app behavioral analytics with push notification and in-app messaging. Repro competes with both Flipdesk (web personalization) and Cross Talk (chatbot) segments, serving similar e-commerce and mobile app customers.
• Sprocket: Japanese conversion optimization platform specializing in website personalization, A/B testing, and behavioral targeting. Sprocket directly competes with Flipdesk in the Japanese mid-market and enterprise e-commerce segment with similar use cases around conversion rate improvement.
• ec-concier (ECコンシェルジュ): Japanese e-commerce conversion optimization specialist offering AI-driven product recommendations, popup personalization, and cart abandonment recovery. Direct competitor to Flipdesk in the EC-focused personalization category, particularly strong with D2C brands.

Emerging players

• AIQ (now part of OneAI): Japanese AI-driven personalization platform that spun out of NTT data, providing customer journey analytics and one-to-one personalization. Competes in adjacent personalization and behavioral analytics segments but with greater enterprise / telecom heritage.

Others

• awoo Japan: AI-powered product discovery platform that integrates with Flipdesk through a partnership. awoo provides product hashtag and categorization capabilities that complement Material Digital's personalization stack — adjacent rather than direct, but represents the ecosystem of complementary AI tools.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/flipdesk

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

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 Material Digital