BE FLAT

What BE FLAT does

LOCOPAY Co., Ltd. (株式会社LOCOPAY, formerly operating under the BE FLAT name and rebranded in December 2024) is a privately held Japanese regional revitalization company headquartered in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture. The company operates the LOCOPAY platform, a digital payment and settlement system that links Japanese hometown tax donation (ふるさと納税) programs to local merchant spending, with the stated goal of retaining donation-driven economic value within the originating region rather than leaking it to external retailers. Its proprietary differentiation rests on a hometown tax donation settlement patent held by parent company Sanshisha Co., Ltd. (株式会社三星舎, founded 1915), with which LOCOPAY formalized a strategic partnership in March 2026 and announced expanded utilization of the patent in June 2026.

The platform connects three constituent user groups: local government municipalities (currently Beppu City, Yufu City, and Usa City within Oita Prefecture), affiliated local merchants (recruited as dealers via the store.locopay.app self-serve registration portal and dedicated dealer recruitment pages for Beppu and Yufu), and donors participating in hometown tax programs. Distribution is executed through direct municipal engagement, on-the-ground dealer recruitment, a company website with press release/news section, and merchant-facing video content. Leadership comprises Representative Director Daisuke Sada (左右田大介).

Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed; no pricing model, SaaS tiers, transaction fees, or GMV figures appear in the source material. The company has no disclosed venture or institutional funding rounds, no reported headcount, and operates as a subsidiary of the 110-year-old Sanshisha group rather than as an independent startup, implying that capital and corporate resources flow through the parent. The business is therefore best characterized as a regulated-payments and regional-circulation infrastructure play whose monetization mechanics, while not disclosed, are structurally tied to donation settlement volume and merchant participation within Oita Prefecture.

Name

BE FLAT

Legal name

株式会社 LOCOPAY

Website

https://be-flat.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Payment & Settlement Platform

akta.pro primary industry

Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure (FSAGABAE)

Keywords

• Regional payment platform
• Hometown tax donation
• Donation settlement system
• Local economic circulation
• Municipal payment solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Beppu

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

BE FLAT (operating as 株式会社LOCOPAY) operates the LOCOPAY regional economic circulation platform, which combines a digital payment and settlement system with hometown tax donation (ふるさと納税) processing. The platform enables Japanese municipalities to collect hometown tax donations and routes those funds toward affiliated local merchants, supported by merchant registration and management portals and a proprietary registered patent on hometown tax donation collection and settlement.

Product overview

LOCOPAY operates as a unified regional economic circulation platform consisting of a core payment and donation application along with merchant management portals. The platform enables hometown tax donation processing and local consumption transactions by connecting municipalities, regional businesses, and payment service providers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LOCOPAY A regional economic circulation payment and donation platform that enables Japanese local governments, regional businesses, and payment-related companies to facilitate hometown tax donations (ふるさと納税) and local consumption transactions, settling donations through affiliated local merchants.
• LOCOPAY Store Registration Portal Online self-serve portal enabling local merchants and stores to register and join the LOCOPAY regional economic circulation network as affiliated dealers.
• LOCOPAY Store Login Portal Authenticated portal for registered LOCOPAY merchants to access and manage their affiliated store accounts and settlement activities.

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Samsung-sha Co., Ltd. (株式会社三星舎)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 March 2026Samsung-sha is the parent company of LOCOPAY and holds the core hometown tax donation patent. The partnership establishes an implementation framework with Samsung-sha's 110-year history as a foundation. LOCOPAY leverages Samsung-sha's patent on 'local consumption × hometown tax donation' to promote regional economic circulation.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Rakuten Furusato Tax: Rakuten's hometown tax portal, part of its broader e-commerce and fintech ecosystem. Comparable as it routes hometown tax donations to municipalities, but Rakuten is a broad incumbent with hometown tax as one product line rather than a focused regional platform.
• JTB Hometown Tax Portal: JTB's hometown tax donation portal, part of its broader travel and regional revitalization portfolio. Comparable because it processes hometown tax donations to municipalities, but JTB is a diversified travel incumbent rather than a focused regional-circulation platform.
• AEON Furusato Tax: AEON Group's hometown tax donation platform, leveraging its nationwide retail footprint for return-gift fulfillment. Comparable as an alternative donation channel serving Japanese municipalities, but bundled with a much larger retail parent.

Direct peers

• Furusato Choice (Trustbank): Major hometown tax portal run by Trustbank, handling donation processing and settlement between donors and municipalities. Directly comparable to LOCOPAY in core activity, with much larger national reach.
• Satofuru (SBI Holdings): One of Japan's largest hometown tax donation portals, operated by SBI Holdings. Direct peer because it operates the same hometown tax donation workflow connecting donors, municipalities, and merchants — though at national rather than regional scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

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 BE FLAT