Doki Doki, Inc. has accepted pre-seed fundings from Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd to expand the collaborative research globally

Doki Doki, Inc. has accepted pre-seed fundings from Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd and started Industry-academia collaboration for creating a new type of voice communication platform.

As of February 1st, 2017, Doki Doki, Inc. (based in San Francisco, CEO Takahito Iguchi), has accepted pre-seed fundings from Kyoto 2016 Investment business limited liability partnership (KYOTO－iCAP, No.1 Fund) of Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd (based in Kyoto, CEO Koji Murota) as an unlimited partner, and started academic research with Kyoto University Academic Information Center to expand the collaborative research globally.

Doki Doki, Inc. is a tech startup based in San Francisco, CA to develop a new type of voice communication platform. We have a branch in Kyoto, Japan too. We launched a five second voice communication mobile app, “baby”, in US market back in October 2016.

This investment is the first step of collaborative research with Kyoto University Academic Information Media Center, Professor Yuichi Nakamura, the head officer of the center. Our goals are to research social communication and voice computing using five-second-voice communication and to make us of the results towards global market.
As the first step, we are going to start implementing on the language study using five-second-voice messages. Furthermore, we are planning a collaborative research to develop voice communication with emotional analysis and machine learning.

We are going to conduct a new industry-academia collaboration from Kyoto and make worldwide industrial applications through it, and we expect that this project aiming at amplifying mutual understanding and cooperative relationship between humanity will become role model of start from Japan.

◯ About Doki Doki, Inc.
Doki Doki, Inc. is a startup founded in San Francisco, USA in June 2014. Our first product “baby” launched in the US market in October 2016 as a new type of communication application that can search for new friends with 5 seconds of voice communication. Through this industry-academia collaboration, we will accelerate the development of new products to establish our own position in the “voice” area, which has a very high potential market.

◯ About Kyoto University Innovation Capital Co., Ltd
Kyoto iCAP provides investment and other support to companies (including curve-outs from joint research companies) aiming to commercialize knowledge (including research results, technology, etc.) by researchers belonging to Kyoto University which was established in December, 2014 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyoto University. In January 2016, the company received a capital contribution from Kyoto University and private financial institutions and formed a KYOTO-iCAP No.1 Fund of 16 billion yen, with Kyoto iCAP as an unlimited partner.