NGU Japan

What NGU Japan does

NGU Inc. (株式会社NGU) is a Tokyo-based technology company founded in July 2016 that operates five distinct business lines centered on an proprietary Japanese-language natural language processing (NLP) engine. Its AI Chatbot product is the most commercially scaled, with 500+ enterprise deployments across banking, securities, and airlines, marketed as a cloud-based, low-cost conversational AI solution that auto-learns from conversation logs. The company also operates a proprietary Japanese NLP marketing research service that analyzes social media data, a B2C marketing shopping site called Plus Ma (プラマ) that uses a point-based box-packing mechanism for which NGU holds Japanese Patent No. 6124235, a web and application development business covering EC sites, corporate sites, mobile apps, and core systems, and a REAL AR product line that overlays digital content onto physical objects and paper.

The company monetizes through a mix of revenue models: transaction fees on the Plus Ma consumer platform, subscription-based recurring revenue on the AI Chatbot, and project-based professional services for marketing research and web/app development. Its customer base splits between B2C consumers (Plus Ma) and B2B enterprise clients concentrated in regulated Japanese industries (AI Chatbot), with the development and research lines serving as project-based adjuncts. Key stated assets include the issued Japanese patent, the proprietary NLP engine, and the Japanese-language enterprise chatbot dialog corpus accumulated across deployments.

NGU is a privately held company with disclosed stated capital of ¥9,000,000 (approximately $60K USD at historical rates), no disclosed funding rounds, no disclosed headcount, and no disclosed revenue. The most recent data point in the source material is from December 2017, which materially limits forward-looking analysis. All five business lines are operated from a single headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Name

NGU Japan

Legal name

NGU inc.

Website

https://ngu.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Short description

NGU Inc. (株式会社NGU) is a Tokyo-based Japanese-language AI and technology company that operates an enterprise AI chatbot (500+ deployments in banking, securities, and airlines), a proprietary NLP marketing research service, the Plus Ma consumer shopping platform, web/app development, and a REAL AR product.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

IT Services & Software

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (5162), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Trade & E-Commerce Development (BPADAMAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Gaming & Virtual World Communities (BPAMABAE)

Keywords

• AI chatbot services
• Marketing research
• Augmented reality solutions
• Gamified e-commerce
• Web application development

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Plus Ma Shopping Platform: E-commerce platform revenue from product sales where users utilize points earned through activities to select products. The gamification model includes lottery features where winning grants free products.
2. AI Chatbot Services: Cloud-based AI chatbot services sold to enterprises (banking, securities, airlines) with implementation support and ongoing operations maintenance. Pricing is competitive due to cloud infrastructure enabling low-cost delivery.
3. Web and App Development: Custom web development, mobile app development, corporate sites, e-commerce sites, landing pages, and core system construction services provided on a project basis.
4. Marketing Research Services: Market research, competitive analysis, and reputation monitoring services using their proprietary Japanese language analysis engine.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

NGU Japan operates five interconnected digital businesses: (1) Plus Ma, a marketing-type shopping site featuring point-based gamification and social sharing mechanics; (2) Marketing Research leveraging a proprietary Japanese NLP engine for social media analysis; (3) an enterprise AI Chatbot service deployed across 500+ companies in banking, securities, and aviation; (4) Web/App development services; and (5) REAL AR augmented reality technology solutions.

Product overview

NGU Japan operates as a multi-service technology company offering five distinct business lines: (1) Plus-Ma, a marketing-type shopping platform combining point-based box shopping with lottery mechanics and social point sharing; (2) AI Chatbot services for enterprise customer support with automatic learning capabilities; (3) Marketing Research services powered by proprietary Japanese NLP analysis; (4) Web/App Development for EC sites and enterprise applications; and (5) REAL AR, a pioneering augmented reality application for advertising and marketing. The company, established in July 2016 with capital of 9 million yen, is headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• プラマ (Plus Ma): Marketing-type shopping site where users can use points to select and box products, with roulette games where winning makes all boxed products free, plus social point sharing and experience-based earning.
• REAL AR

Products and services

• Plus Ma (プラマ) Marketing-type shopping site that combines e-commerce with point-based gamification and social sharing, targeted at individual Japanese consumers who want to earn and share discounts via SNS communities.
• Marketing Research Marketing research offering that uses a proprietary Japanese-language NLP engine to analyze social media and SNS data, supporting brand and marketing strategy decisions for Japanese corporate clients.
• AI Chatbot Service Enterprise AI chatbot service deployed at 500+ companies across banking, securities, and aviation, with auto-learning Japanese-language capabilities and both cloud and on-premise deployment options for regulated industries.
• Web and Application Development Custom web and application development services for Japanese clients, providing end-to-end engineering resources for digital products and website builds.
• REAL AR REAL AR augmented reality technology offering, positioned as a pioneering AR solution in Japan for enterprises and brands seeking differentiated AR-enabled customer and marketing experiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500+ enterprise companies deployed
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Rakuten: Japanese e-commerce and digital services giant operating a flagship shopping platform with loyalty/point mechanics. Comparable to NGU's Plus-Ma in the Japanese consumer e-commerce and points-based shopping category.
• Mercari: Japanese C2C marketplace operator with gamified listing and engagement mechanics. Comparable to Plus-Ma as a Japanese consumer marketplace with engagement-focused product design.
• LY Corporation (LINE Yahoo): Japanese internet conglomerate operating LINE messaging plus Yahoo Japan services with embedded chatbot and AI offerings. Comparable as a much larger incumbent competing for the same Japanese enterprise chatbot and consumer messaging markets.
• Salesforce Japan: Enterprise CRM with Einstein AI chatbot capabilities, including Japanese-language support. A broad incumbent in the same enterprise customer-service automation category NGU addresses with banks and securities firms.

Others

• Niantic: AR platform company behind Pokémon GO and AR development tools (Niantic Studio/8th Wall). Comparable to NGU's REAL AR as a pioneer in consumer/enterprise AR experiences, though Niantic's focus is location-based gaming rather than advertising overlay.
• Recruit Holdings: Japanese information services and HR/marketing technology conglomerate operating consumer-facing web platforms. Comparable to NGU's web/app development and consumer platform businesses as a diversified Japanese digital services incumbent.

Direct peers

• LivePerson: Enterprise conversational AI and chatbot platform serving banks, airlines, and other regulated industries. Directly comparable to NGU on chatbot deployment in regulated verticals, including financial services.
• Zendesk: Global customer service and chatbot platform with strong enterprise presence. Comparable to NGU's chatbot line as a SaaS-delivered conversational AI for customer support, with broader geographic reach.
• PKSHA Technology: Japanese AI/NLP company offering machine learning and natural language processing solutions including chatbot and customer service automation. Directly comparable to NGU on Japanese NLP and enterprise chatbot capabilities.
• KARAKURI: Japanese AI chatbot platform focused on customer service automation for enterprises. Closely comparable to NGU's chatbot line in target customer (Japanese enterprises) and core functionality (FAQ-based conversational AI).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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 NGU Japan