What HEARTBEATS does

HEARTBEATS, Inc. (株式会社HEARTBEATS / ハートビーツ) is a Tokyo-based digital fan engagement company founded in November 2017 by Yuta Umesawa (originally as ventus, Inc.). The company operates ORICAL, a proprietary digital trading card collection platform that powers dedicated fan engagement service sites for sports and entertainment rights holders — each partner (e.g., Seibu Lions, Chunichi Dragons, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Japan Sumo Association, Ultraman, Hello! Project) operates a branded sub-service such as lions.orical.jp or njpw.orical.jp on shared ORICAL infrastructure. The business model is B2B2C: HEARTBEATS contracts with content holders, builds and operates the per-property service site, and earns transaction-fee revenue from end-fans collecting, trading, and engaging with digital cards. As of May 2026, the company had 152 employees (106 full-time), registered capital of ¥22.47M, and an office in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo.

The platform supports 18 contracted content partners as of January 2026, including all 8 NPB professional baseball teams, with vertical expansion into sumo, professional wrestling (NJPW, Stardom), idol music (Hello! Project), anime/media (Ultraman), professional mahjong (M.LEAGUE), badminton (BAJ), American football (Brave Lupus), horse racing (netkeiba), and rugby (Toyota Verblitz). In March 2026, HEARTBEATS executed its first international expansion with the launch of wiz collection for KBO team kt wiz in South Korea. The company has conducted four rounds of third-party allotment capital increases (May 2018, September 2020, 2021, December 2023) with undisclosed amounts from individual investors, VC firms, and corporate investors. Leadership includes CEO Yuta Umesawa, CTO Akira Miyazawa, and a board including outside directors from Port Co. and WiL. HEARTBEATS holds a SECURITY ACTION Two-Star Declaration (IPA) established August 1, 2024, reflecting baseline information security posture.

Name

HEARTBEATS

Legal name

HEARTBEATS, Inc.

Website

https://heartbeats-inc.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

HEARTBEATS operates ORICAL, a proprietary digital trading card platform powering branded fan engagement services for 18+ sports and entertainment content partners across Japan and South Korea, including all 8 NPB baseball teams.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Collectibles Platform

NAICS

Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912)

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)

akta.pro primary industry

Sports Collectibles, Fan Gear & Licensed Merchandise Retail (CRAMABAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fan Engagement & Onsite Technology (RFID, Cashless, Apps) (MPAGAAAL)

Keywords

• Digital trading cards
• Fan engagement platform
• Digital collectibles
• Sports marketing software
• Content partnership services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Trading Card Collection Services: Revenue generated from digital trading card collection services offered to fans through the ORICAL platform. Fans can collect, trade, and engage with digital trading cards representing their favorite sports teams, wrestlers, sumo wrestlers, and entertainment properties. The platform supports 18 partners as of January 2026.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HEARTBEATS operates ORICAL, a proprietary digital trading card collection platform that powers fan engagement services for sports and entertainment properties. Through B2B2C partnerships with content holders (professional sports teams, wrestling promotions, sumo association, entertainment companies), the company delivers 18+ branded digital trading card services reaching end consumers, combining digital card collection with real-world fan activities.

Product overview

HEARTBEATS is a fan engagement platform company operating in sports and entertainment. Its core product is the proprietary ORICAL platform — a digital trading card collection system that powers multiple branded sub-services across professional baseball (9 NPB teams including Seibu Lions, Chiba Lotte Marines, Yakult Swallows, Chunichi Dragons, Rakuten Eagles, Nippon-Ham Fighters, Orix Buffaloes, Hiroshima Carp, and Hanshin Tigers), sumo, professional wrestling (New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Stardom), idol music (Hello! Project), anime/media (Ultraman), esports/mahjong (M.LEAGUE), American football (Brave Lupus), badminton (BAJ), horse racing (netkeiba), and international sports (kt wiz KBO, Toyota Verblitz rugby). All sub-products share the ORICAL platform infrastructure and provide both digital card collection and real-world fan engagement features.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ORICAL: Digital trading card collection platform/system developed by HEARTBEATS for fan engagement services.

Products and services

• ORICAL Platform Proprietary digital trading card collection platform and system developed by HEARTBEATS as the foundation for fan engagement services across sports and entertainment verticals. The platform enables content partners to deliver branded digital trading card services to their fan bases, combining digital card collection with features for both digital and real-world fan activities.
• L COLLECTION Official digital trading card collection service for the Saitama Seibu Lions, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team. Allows Lions fans to collect and trade digital cards featuring team players and imagery.
• MARINES COLLECTION Official digital trading card collection service for the Chiba Lotte Marines, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team.
• Swallows Trading Cards Official digital trading card collection service for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team.
• DRAGONS COLLECTION Official digital trading card collection service for the Chunichi Dragons, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team.
• EAGLES TRADING CARDS Official digital trading card collection service for the Rakuten Eagles, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team.
• Fighters Trading Cards Official digital trading card collection service for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team.
• Buffaloes TRADING CARDS COLLECTION Official digital trading card collection service for the ORIX Buffaloes, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team.
• CARP TRADING CARDS Official digital trading card collection service for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team.
• Tigers COLLECTION Official digital trading card collection service for the Hanshin Tigers, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team.
• Grand Sumo Collection Official digital trading card collection service for the Japan Sumo Association, enabling sumo fans to collect and trade digital cards featuring sumo wrestlers.
• New Japan CARD RUMBLE Official digital trading card collection service for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, recently relaunched as an experiential-format service for pro wrestling fans.
• STARDOM CARD PARTY Official digital trading card collection service for Stardom, a professional women's wrestling promotion in Japan.
• Hello! Project Digital Collection Official digital trading card collection service for Hello! Project, a Japanese idol group franchise operated by UP-FRONT GROUP.
• Ultraman Digital Card Collection Official digital trading card collection service for the Ultraman franchise, operated by Tsuburaya Productions.
• M.LEAGUE OFFICIAL TRADING CARDS Official digital trading card collection service for M.LEAGUE, a professional mahjong league in Japan.
• BAJ COLLECTION Official digital trading card collection service for the Badminton Association of Japan.
• wiz collection Official digital trading card collection service for kt wiz, a KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) team, launched in South Korea as HEARTBEATS' first international expansion.
• Verutore (Veritre) Official digital trading card collection service for Toyota Verblitz, a Top League rugby team.
• UMATRECA Official digital trading card collection service for netkeiba, a Japanese horse racing media platform operated by NET DREAMERS.

Quantifiable outcome

• Expanded to 18 partners including all 8 NPB teams as of January 2026
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Net Dreamers (netkeiba)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 May 2026UMATRECA (ウマトレカ) horse racing digital trading card service launched May 29, 2026.
• Toyota VerblitzcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 April 2026ヴェルトレ (Verutore) official digital trading card service. Rugby team partnership expanding beyond baseball.
• kt wiz (KBO League)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 March 2026wiz collection launched March 27, 2026. First international expansion into South Korean market. kt wiz is a KBO League professional baseball team.
• Hanshin TigerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026Tigers COLLECTION digital trading card service launched 2026.
• Seibu LionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026HEARTBEATS provides L COLLECTION digital trading card service for Seibu Lions. This is one of 18 content partnerships enabling fans to collect digital trading cards featuring team players and imagery.
• Chiba Lotte MarinescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026MARINES COLLECTION digital trading card service. Partnership expanded as part of 8-team NPB expansion in January 2026.
• Tokyo Yakult SwallowscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Swallows Trading Cards digital trading card service. Fan engagement platform for dedicated baseball fan base.
• Chunichi DragonscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026DRAGONS COLLECTION digital trading card service.
• Rakuten EaglescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026EAGLES TRADING CARDS digital trading card service.
• Hokkaido Nippon-Ham FighterscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Fighters Trading Cards digital trading card service.
• ORIX BuffaloescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Buffaloes TRADING CARDS COLLECTION digital trading card service.
• Hiroshima Toyo CarpcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026CARP TRADING CARDS digital trading card service.
• Japan Sumo AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrand Sumo Collection digital trading card service.
• New Japan Pro-WrestlingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNEW JAPAN CARD RUMBLE digital trading card service. Rebranded to experiential format in July 2026.
• StardomcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSTARDOM CARD PARTY digital trading card service for women's professional wrestling.
• Tsuburaya ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUltraman Digital Card Collection service.
• UP-FRONT GROUPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHello! Project Digital Collection service featuring idol group content.
• Badminton Association of JapancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBAJ COLLECTION digital trading card service.
• M. League OrganizationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerM.LEAGUE OFFICIAL TRADING CARDS digital trading card service for professional mahjong league.
• Stardust Promotion (Stacommu)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStacommu Produce Collection digital trading card service.
• Creative Office CUEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCUE Collection! digital trading card service.
• Toshiba Brave Lupus TokyominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBRAVE LUPUS Digital Trading Cards (Chronicles of the Brave Wolves) service.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• The Pokémon Company: Operates the Pokémon Trading Card Game — the largest TCG franchise globally — with both physical and digital (Pokémon TCG Live) formats. Relevant incumbent peer operating Japanese-headquartered collectible card products at massive scale.
• Panini: Global trading card and collectibles company with dominant physical-card licensing in soccer, basketball, and American football; expanding into digital. Significantly larger incumbent serving similar fan-driven collectibles demand to HEARTBEATS' Japanese sports/entertainment card market.
• Bushiroad: Japanese entertainment company operating major trading card game franchises (Cardfight!! Vanguard, Weiss Schwarz, Duel Masters) plus mobile gaming and esports. Comparable as a Japanese peer operating digital trading card products tied to specific IP and fan communities.
• Fanatics Collectibles: Major sports merchandise and collectibles company that acquired Topps and operates both physical and digital trading card businesses across multiple sports globally. Much larger and broader than HEARTBEATS, but operates in the same licensed trading card space with both physical and digital offerings.
• Konami Digital Entertainment: Japanese gaming company operating Yu-Gi-Oh! — one of the world's largest digital and physical trading card game franchises. Comparable as a Japanese-headquartered digital trading card operator with strong collectible-card monetization, though focused on gaming IP rather than sports/entertainment.
• Topps: Legacy sports and entertainment trading card manufacturer (now part of Fanatics) with deep IP licensing relationships across MLB, NFL, NBA, Star Wars, etc. Comparable to HEARTBEATS as a long-established licensed trading card operator with both physical and digital product lines.

Direct peers

• Sorare: French operator of licensed digital trading cards for soccer clubs and leagues globally via a B2B2C model with team/league partners. Most structurally comparable to HEARTBEATS — same B2B2C IP licensing model, same free-to-play trading card mechanics, only differing in sport (soccer vs. Japanese baseball/entertainment mix) and geography.
• Candy Digital: Digital sports collectibles platform partnering with MLB, WWE, and other IP holders to issue licensed digital trading cards. Closely comparable B2B2C model with HEARTBEATS, particularly relevant given both serve baseball fan bases.
• Dapper Labs: Operator of NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day — digital sports collectibles platforms licensing IP from major North American leagues via B2B2C. Directly analogous to HEARTBEATS' model of partnering with content holders (NPB teams, sumo association) to issue licensed digital trading cards to fans.

Emerging players

• Ally: Japanese digital sports card and collectibles app focused on baseball and other Japanese sports leagues, operating a consumer-facing mobile app for digital trading card collection. Closest Japanese-market peer to HEARTBEATS by product category and target audience.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 HEARTBEATS