Synergy Media

What Synergy Media does

Synergy Media Inc. (シナジーメディア株式会社) is a Tokyo-based B2B marketing services company founded in March 2005 as Japan's first technology transfer venture from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The company builds and operates the proprietary HONEYTOUCH platform — a network of contactless terminals deployed at railway stations, shopping malls, event venues, and stadiums across Japan that leverage existing transit IC cards (PASMO, Suica, ICOCA, TOICA, manaca, nimoca, Kitaca, SUGOCA, Hayakaken, plus mobile variants) for anonymous consumer engagement. HONEYTOUCH enables lottery draws, point accumulation, and stamp rally campaigns without requiring app downloads or personal registration, and is complemented by a QR-code-based Smart Lottery system for smartphone participation.

The company operates two core business lines: HONEYTOUCH campaign services delivered through direct B2B contracts with railway operators and commercial real estate, and Green Upcycle® (launched June 2022), a registered-trademark sustainability initiative that collects discarded textiles and chemically upcycles them into new materials and products. Green Upcycle® has been scaled through strategic partnerships with H2O Retailing Corporation (Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores, March 2023), Geo Clear Co., Ltd. (material processing, January 2023), and Aichigakusen Junior College (academic design pipeline). In March 2025, Synergy Media expanded its hardware portfolio with HONEYTOUCH-17, a compact desktop-model terminal targeting outdoor events and smaller venues.

Synergy Media runs a lean operation of 1-10 employees and generates revenue through per-campaign B2B service contracts with enterprise venue operators. Named enterprise customers include JR East, Tokyo Metro, YOKOHAMA Station City, Futakotamagawa Rise, Tokyo Solamachi, Lalaport Kita-Ayase, Tokyu Department Store Toyoko, Saitama Super Arena, the National Stadium, and Gundam Base Tokyo. President and CEO Masakazu Sato (佐藤正一), a former 15-year Dentsu executive who led the original AIST-Dentsu CPSM research, has led the company since December 2005. The company celebrated its 20th anniversary in June 2025 and operates as an independent, privately held company with no disclosed institutional funding.

Name

Synergy Media

Legal name

シナジーメディア株式会社

Website

https://synergymedia.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Synergy Media is a Tokyo-based B2B marketing services company that deploys proprietary HONEYTOUCH terminals at Japanese railway stations, malls, and event venues, enabling anonymous transit IC card-based lottery and stamp rally campaigns for enterprise clients like JR East and Tokyo Metro.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. HONEYTOUCH Campaign Services: Synergy Media provides end-to-end campaign services to railway operators, shopping malls, event venues, and commercial complexes. These services include deploying HONEYTOUCH terminals, managing IC card-based lottery/coupon campaigns, and providing QR-code smart lottery systems. Revenue is generated through service contracts and per-campaign fees with B2B clients.
2. Green Upcycle® (Sustainable Fashion): A clothing upcycling initiative that collects used garments, transforms them into new materials and products, and redistributes them through retail partnerships. Revenue model involves product sales and partnership fees with fashion brands and retailers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Synergy Media designs, deploys, and operates IC card-based and QR-code-based promotional campaign systems for B2B clients such as railway operators, shopping malls, commercial complexes, and event venues in Japan. Its flagship HONEYTOUCH terminals read anonymous IDs from transit IC cards (PASMO, Suica, ICOCA, etc.) to run lotteries, point programs, and stamp rallies without requiring consumer registration, while the Smart Lottery platform replaces physical gacha machines with smartphone QR-code draws. The company also runs Green Upcycle®, a textile-upcycling initiative that transforms discarded clothing into new materials and products.

Product overview

Synergy Media operates two core service lines: HONEYTOUCH and Smart Lottery. HONEYTOUCH is a standalone terminal system that accepts transportation IC cards (PASMO, Suica, ICOCA, and other Japanese IC cards) for physical lottery draws, point programs, and stamp rallies at retail, event, and transit venues. HONEYTOUCH-17 is a compact desktop variant targeting outdoor and mobile event deployments. Smart Lottery replaces physical gacha machines with QR-code-based smartphone lottery participation, reducing venue crowding. A third initiative, Green Upcycle, is a textile upcycling sustainability project that collects discarded clothing, transforms it into new materials, and creates new products — a registered trademark initiative aimed at reducing textile waste.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ハニタッチ (HONEYTOUCH): Transportation IC card-based lottery, point accumulation, and stamp rally system allowing users to participate by simply tapping their Suica, PASMO, or other IC cards.
• スマート抽選 (Smart Lottery)
• グリーンアップサイクル® (Green Upcycle)

Products and services

• HONEYTOUCH (ハニタッチ) A proprietary touch-terminal system that reads anonymous IDs from Japanese transportation IC cards (PASMO, Suica, ICOCA, TOICA, Kitaca, manaca, PiTaPa, SUGOCA, nimoca, Hayakaken, and Mobile Suica) to enable lottery draws, point accumulation, and stamp rallies at railway stations, shopping malls, event venues, and commercial complexes. Users tap their existing transit card on a HONEYTOUCH terminal to participate instantly without prior registration or app download, and Synergy Media manages the full campaign for the B2B client.
• Smart Lottery (スマート抽選) A smartphone-based lottery system that replaces traditional physical gacha machines with QR codes. Customers scan a QR code on their smartphone to participate in the draw digitally, eliminating crowd concentration at physical lottery venues and supporting both a prize-exchange-counter model and a fully digital coupon-issuance model for B2B campaign clients.
• HONEYTOUCH-17 (小型卓上タイプ) A compact desktop-model variant of the HONEYTOUCH terminal designed for outdoor events, markets, and venues where the standard standalone terminal is impractical. Retains full HONEYTOUCH IC card touch functionality in a smaller form factor for temporary and outdoor deployments.
• Green Upcycle® (グリーンアップサイクル®) A registered-trademark sustainability initiative that collects discarded textiles and clothing, processes them into new materials through chemical upcycling, and re-products them into new goods. Delivered through partnerships with fashion brands, retailers, local governments (e.g., H2O Retailing/Hankyu Hanshin, Tokyu Plaza, Geo Clear, Aichigakusen Junior College), enabling near-zero textile waste through creative upcycling.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of campaign deployments since 2005 across railway stations, commercial facilities, and event venues throughout Japan
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers12 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

Integration11 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• H2O Retailing Corporation (エイチ・ツー・オー・リテイリング株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 March 2023H2O Retailing, operator of Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores and other retail formats, entered into a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Hyogo Prefecture's Kawano City and launched the Green Upcycle® project regionally. Synergy Media is the core sustainability partner for this initiative, providing the upcycling platform and managing the circular economy process from collection to redistribution.
• Geo Clear Co., Ltd. (株式会社ゲオクリア)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 January 2023Geo Clear partnered with Synergy Media and Aichigakusen Junior College in an industry-academia collaboration sustainable project. Products made from Green Upcycle® sheets by students were sold at Tokyu Plaza Omotesando's limited-time corner. This partnership demonstrates Synergy Media's ability to bridge fashion brands, academic institutions, and retail distribution.
• いいねAI (iine-ai.com)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSynergy Media is a regular authorized agent (正規代理店) of いいねAI, promoting the iine-ai.com AI platform and potentially integrating it into its marketing technology offerings. The company powers its own communications with iine-ai.com technology.
• Aichigakusen Junior College (愛知学泉短期大学)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in the Green Upcycle® sustainable project, where students used Green Upcycle® sheets to produce bags and accessories for retail sale through the Tokyu Plaza partnership.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Septeni Holdings Co., Ltd. Japanese digital marketing and ad tech holding company serving major enterprise clients with online advertising and marketing services. Directly comparable as a B2B marketing technology provider in Japan with a similar mid-market positioning.
• Repro Inc. Japanese marketing automation and customer engagement platform focused on mobile and web channels. Comparable as a B2B customer engagement technology provider targeting Japanese enterprises.
• All About, Inc. Japanese content and digital marketing platform operating comparison sites and marketing solutions. Comparable as a Japanese marketing technology company serving enterprise clients.
• FreakOut Holdings, Inc. Japanese digital advertising technology company providing programmatic ad buying and marketing data platforms. Operates in the same B2B marketing technology space in Japan with an enterprise customer base.
• BrainPad Inc. Japanese data analytics and marketing technology firm serving enterprise clients with AI-driven marketing solutions. Comparable in combining data, marketing, and B2B enterprise services for the Japanese market.
• Members Inc. Japanese digital marketing firm with a focus on affiliate, programmatic, and data-driven marketing services. Comparable as a mid-sized B2B marketing technology company operating in Japan.

Broad incumbents

• Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc. Second-largest Japanese advertising group with a broad portfolio across brand, digital, and content marketing. Competes with Synergy Media for the same large enterprise marketing budgets in Japan.
• Dentsu Group Inc. Japan's largest advertising agency group and the founder's former employer. While much larger, Dentsu competes for the same transit, retail, and venue marketing budgets that Synergy Media's HONEYTOUCH campaigns address.

Others

• Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. Major Japanese printing conglomerate with operations in signage, displays, and retail marketing materials. Comparable as an adjacent display/signage technology provider for retail and venue environments.
• Toppan Holdings Inc. Large Japanese printing and information communications company with a display and signage business. Comparable as an adjacent infrastructure provider for in-venue display and promotional hardware that could substitute or complement HONEYTOUCH.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Synergymedia_PR
• Instagraminstagram.com/synergymedia_co_jp

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 Synergy Media