Google rarely invests in Japanese startups. Meet the exception.

Abeja is an artificial intelligence consulting company that’s making waves in the Japanese tech industry.

The startup has raised a total of US$45.3 million in disclosed funding to date, with the latest investment from coming from Google via a series C round in December 2018.

Google’s move made headlines as it was one of the company’s rare investments in Japan. The US tech titan and Abeja plan to collaborate on developing AI and machine learning solutions for retail, manufacturing, and other sectors.

Google is not the only well-known backer of Abeja. The series C fundraise included chipmaker Nvidia, air-conditioning brand Daikin Industries, and optical equipment manufacturer Topcon Corporation.

Yousuke Okada, founder of Abeja / Photo credit: Abeja

Several of these investors are Abeja’s customers. Daikin has worked with the startup on using deep learning to improve its operations. For example, it could be used to help identify faults when fixing faulty air-conditioning units belonging to its customers.

Behind the rise of this fast-growing company is the story of Yousuke Okada, its 31-year-old founder.

Engineering-savvy founder

Okada started programming at 10 years old and majored in computer graphics in high school.

He continued pursuing his passion in college, majoring in fields that use computing power, such as fluid simulation. While there, Okada started a photo-sharing service similar to Instagram. When that business failed, he joined RichMedia, a Silicon Valley internet services company. That experience exposed him to various aspects of a business: sales, marketing, design, finance, human resources, and more.

The idea to launch Abeja came when Okada first learned about deep learning, an emerging technology that’s making AI practical in many fields.

In September 2012, he started Abeja with the help of angel investor Keisuke Tomimatsu, the former executive director of Morgan Stanley Japan Securities and currently an independent director of Musashi Seimitsu Industry, an automobile parts company.

Abeja’s unique approach of consulting for companies across different industries stems from Okada’s background in the arts.

He cited a quote from Steve Jobs: “It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough – it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities.”

At first glance, Abeja’s projects don’t seem to be connected to each other. This year, it announced that it will work with Singapore’s public transport operator SMRT Corporation to use deep-learning technology to automate fault identification in railways.

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