Blanc

What Blanc does

Blanc (株式会社ブラン), founded in March 2013 and headquartered in Tokyo's Toranomon district, is a Japanese private technology company operating three distinct but technologically linked business lines. Its FLOWER business sells preserved flower arrangements with custom messages, photos, logos, or QR codes printed directly on rose petals, delivering over 30,000 flower gifts annually through its own e-commerce platform (blanc-papier.jp), two retail stores in the greater Tokyo area, in-person preserved flower lessons, and B2B enterprise gifting. Its AR business, built around the proprietary Motion Paper platform, prints QR codes and AR markers on physical media so that a smartphone scan triggers video playback or URL redirects without an app download, with a single QR code able to trigger multiple AR markers; this platform is sold to corporate marketing teams, government public-information campaigns, and tourism organizations, and is distributed through a network of regional TV broadcaster and publisher sales agents. Its AI BOX business is developing a medical diagnostic support device that combines AI image analysis of CT, MRI, and X-ray scans with a proprietary drug database built from 8,500 journals and 750,000 papers and with electronic medical record integration, though the product is currently positioned for research use.

The company makes money primarily through one-time and project-based B2B fees (AR video production from 150,000 yen per piece, AR enterprise contracts, flower product sales) supplemented by preserved-flower lessons (experience lessons at 2,500 yen plus materials, certification courses at 300,000 yen, resort packages around 298,000 yen), consumer e-commerce flower sales, and emerging subscription/recurring revenue from AI BOX deployments. Blanc serves a diverse set of customer segments — individual gift buyers, corporate marketing departments, central and municipal government agencies, foreign embassies in Japan, professional sports teams, entertainment celebrities, and (in development) healthcare providers. The company holds a Tokyo antique dealer permit, has accumulated approximately 463.6 million yen in total equity through capital increases and structured capital alliances with media companies including Nippon Television Network Corporation, Mie Television Broadcasting, and Sankei Research & Data, and has been accepted into Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.

Name

Blanc

Legal name

株式会社ブラン

Website

https://87blanc.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Blanc is a Tokyo-based technology company operating three business lines: preserved Message Flowers with printed QR/AR markers, the Motion Paper AR platform for B2B marketing materials, and AI BOX medical diagnostic support software. It serves consumer gifting, corporate, government, diplomatic, sports, and healthcare clients in Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Preserved Flowers and AR Technology Solutions

NAICS

Commercial Printing (except Screen and Books) (323111), Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Business Intelligence, Reporting & Visualization Services (BPAEAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Augmented Analytics & AI-Assisted BI (NLQ/NLG, Insights) (HDAEAMAD)

Keywords

• Preserved flower gifts
• Augmented reality marketing
• Medical diagnostic AI
• Flower arrangement education
• QR code printing

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Flower Product Sales: Sale of preserved flowers with printed messages and AR integration through e-commerce and retail stores. Includes collaboration products with celebrities and sports teams.
2. AR Motion Paper Services: B2B AR technology licensing and implementation services for businesses and government organizations. Revenue from AR-enabled marketing materials, business cards, catalogs, posters, and promotional materials.
3. Flower Lessons: Preserved flower arrangement lessons offered at multiple locations. Includes experience lessons (2,500 yen plus materials) and certification courses (300,000 yen). Resort hotel certification courses also available.
4. AI BOX Medical Solutions: Medical AI diagnostic support equipment and software solutions for healthcare providers. Research use purpose, integrates with medical record systems.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Blanc operates three business lines unified by proprietary printing and AR technology: (1) Message Flower business producing preserved rose products with messages, photos, logos, and QR codes printed directly on petals, sold through own e-commerce (blanc-papier.jp) and retail stores; (2) Motion Paper AR platform enabling smartphone scanning of QR codes or images on printed materials to deliver video playback or URL redirects without requiring app downloads, with a single QR code supporting multiple AR markers; and (3) AI BOX medical diagnostic support system integrating AI image analysis of CT, MRI, and X-ray images, an AI-powered drug database drawn from 8,500 journals and 750,000 medical papers, and electronic medical record connectivity.

Product overview

Blanc (株式会社ブラン) operates three distinct business lines unified by proprietary printing and AR technology: (1) FLOWER Business offering preserved Message Flowers with petal printing, annual flower gift delivery, and flower arrangement lessons; (2) AI BOX Business providing a comprehensive medical diagnostic support system combining AI image analysis (CT, MRI, X-ray), an AI-powered drug database (8,500 journals, 750,000 papers), and electronic medical record integration; and (3) AR Business centered on Motion Paper technology enabling AR experiences through printed materials. The AR business also extends the flower technology to general-purpose advertising and media applications. All three divisions share core competencies in high-precision QR code/AR marker printing, with cross-selling between preserved flower gifting and AR-enhanced flower products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• モーションペイパ (MotionPaper): AR専用アプリ。カメラを写真・文章にかざすと動画視聴や指定URL遷移が可能。紙媒体のデジタルマーケティング分析にも対応。
• AI BOX
• メッセージフラワー

Products and services

• Message Flower (メッセージフラワー) Preserved rose products with company logos, messages, or photos printed directly on petals using proprietary petal-printing technology. The company delivers over 30,000 flower gifts annually to government, municipalities, and enterprise clients, and also operates collaboration products with sports teams (Yomiuri Giants, Orix Buffaloes, Yokohama DeNA BayStars, Chunichi Dragons) and celebrities (Yuzuru Hanyu, Daisuke Takahashi).
• Motion Paper (モーションペーパ) AR technology platform enabling users to scan QR codes or images on printed materials (flower petals, business cards, pamphlets, flyers, posters, catalogs) with a smartphone camera to view videos or access URLs without requiring app download. Supports multiple AR markers per single QR code for richer content delivery.
• AI BOX

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000+ flower gifts delivered annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability10 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and major.

• Gifu Shimbun Inc.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2024Sales agent partnership for AR service distribution in Gifu region.
• TV Wakayama Inc.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 March 2024Sales agent partnership for AR service distribution in Wakayama region.
• Sankei Research & Data Co., Ltd.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 November 2023Sales agent and capital partnership for AR service distribution. Established both sales agency and capital/business alliance.
• Shinto Tsushin Co., Ltd.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 12 October 2023Sales agent agreement for AR service distribution.
• Mie Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd.majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 25 September 2023Sales agent and capital partnership with regional television broadcaster for AR service distribution.
• Mie Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd.majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 25 September 2023Sales agent agreement for AR service distribution through regional TV broadcaster.
• JTB Publishing Co., Ltd.majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 11 September 2023Sales agent agreement for AR service distribution through publishing channels.
• JTB Communication Design Co., Ltd.majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 30 August 2023Sales agent agreement for AR service distribution to tourism and MICE markets.
• Sankei Research & Data Co., Ltd.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 28 June 2023Sales agent agreement for AR Motion Paper service distribution.
• Microsoft CorporationmajorTechnology or Integration · 1 December 2022Accepted into Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, a global program supporting startup growth and scale. AR app Motion Paper was accepted into the program.
• ANA X Inc.majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2021ANA Motion AR service partnership. BLANC's AR technology integrated into ANA's calendar and promotional materials.
• Japan Chamber of Commerce and IndustryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2021Partnership for promoting AR services to chamber member companies.
• Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau (Public Interest Incorporated Foundation)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2021Tourism partnership for promoting Osaka tourism using AR flower technology.
• Tokyo Metropolitan Television Corporation (MXTV)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2021Partnership with Tokyo metropolitan TV station for AR service promotion.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Viz.ai: AI imaging company that flags suspected strokes and other time-critical findings on CT, with EHR integration and care-team coordination. Comparable to AI BOX in the disease-detection, EMR-linked imaging AI use case.
• Zappar: UK-based AR platform offering QR/webAR tools for marketing, packaging, and print. Directly comparable to Blanc's Motion Paper business in offering no-app-download AR experiences tied to physical printed materials for enterprise marketing campaigns.
• Blippar: AR content-creation platform that lets brands build AR experiences triggered by print markers and packaging. Overlaps with Blanc's Motion Paper AR service targeting B2B marketing teams via channel partners.
• Aidoc: AI medical imaging company providing CT/MRI/X-ray diagnostic decision-support software to hospitals. Closest direct comparator to Blanc's AI BOX in clinical workflow AI for radiologists, integrating with EMR/PACS.

Regional players

• teamLab: Japan-based digital-art/immersive experience company applying technology to cultural and brand experiences. Comparable to Blanc as a Japan-rooted technology company monetizing interactive visual experiences for tourism, government, and enterprises.

Emerging players

• 8th Wall: WebAR development platform enabling browser-based AR experiences. Partial overlap with Motion Paper on no-app-download AR, but serves developer/agency workflows rather than discrete enterprise print campaigns.
• Annalise.ai: Medical imaging AI vendor offering AI decision support across multiple modalities, with deployments across APAC. Comparable niche positioning to AI BOX in research/clinical AI imaging.

Broad incumbents

• 1-800-Flowers.com: Large US-based online flower and gift retailer. Broad incumbent providing the e-commerce flower-gift category benchmark relevant to Blanc's blanc-papier.jp direct-to-consumer business.
• PTC (Vuforia): Established enterprise AR/marker-tracking platform within the broader PTC CAD/PLM portfolio. Larger incumbent in industrial and marketing AR that competes with Motion Paper for enterprise AR spend.
• Teleflora: Established flower-gifting florist network in North America. Broad incumbent comparator to Blanc's preserved-Message Flower consumer gifting business at the gift-commerce level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/blanc.87blanc

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 Blanc