Sumitomo Life invests in A10 Lab

A10 Lab, which develops and operates “MinChallenge”, a habit formation app, has raised JPY 440m in a Series A2 round from Fast Track Initiative, Mirai Souzou Kikou, Kamakura Investment Management, Sumitomo Life Insurance, and two other companies. A10 will use this funding to further strengthen hiring for the corporate business division, and as an impact startup, aim to solve issues arising from the aging society as well as achieve economic growth through their business.

Using proprietary patented technology “Digital Peer Support” to solve issues in healthcare and medicine

In Japan’s aging society, unhealthy longevity is increasing even as healthy longevity remains unchanged. While changing one’s lifestyle habits can extend healthy longevity, it is difficult to change ingrained habits, so it is important to point out areas for improvement and course corrections in daily actions.

A10 has launched two new corporate businesses centered around their proprietary technology, Digital Peer Support, which helps people who have difficulty starting and sustaining healthy habits to make behavior changes enjoyably. A10 will use these to solve issues in healthcare and medicine.

“MinChallenge Frail Prevention/Digital Divide Elimination” for municipal governments

• Track record: Due to COVID-19, many seniors have reduced social connections, leading to lack of exercise and progression of frailty even after COVID restrictions eased, making it difficult to revert to previous health levels. MinChallenge Frail Prevention/Digital Divide Elimination allows local seniors to team up, chat, enjoy walking, and develop the habit of carrying smartphones, also helping to eliminate the digital divide. Its effectiveness is proven by data, and it has been adopted by municipalities facing issues with senior frailty and digital divides. In the 3 years since launch, it has supported senior assistance projects in a total of 29 municipalities.
• Growth potential: The first online study group on using ICT for frailty prevention organized by A10 in August 2022 attracted 401 municipalities in its 5th session — 23% of all municipalities, indicating strong interest in using ICT for senior assistance projects. Municipalities requesting to observe MinChallenge seminars for seniors have also increased with each study group, reflecting strong desire to adopt it based on recognition of its effectiveness. This business is featured in the 2022 White Paper on Health, Labour and Welfare, matching the government’s latest direction of “connected, purposeful local communities.”
• Medical and nursing care cost reduction: Of the main causes for requiring nursing care, “dementia,” “frailty,” and “fractures/falls” related to frailty account for 33% in men and 50% in women. Frailty has the characteristic of “reversibility,” so prevention can not only slow its progression, but return to previously healthy states. Per Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry data, preventing frailty and dementia is estimated to reduce medical costs in 2034 by 32 billion yen and nursing care costs by 3.2 trillion yen. The cost-effectiveness of preventing frailty/dementia exceeds that of preventing lifestyle diseases.
• Future outlook: A10 aims to promote ICT-based frailty prevention and build healthy aging communities by adopting it in over 300 municipalities within 4 years.

“MinChallenge Smoking Cessation” for companies and health insurance associations

• Track record and growth potential: The revised Health Promotion Act made passive smoking prevention obligatory for businesses from April 2020. Smoking prevention support and cessation assistance are also required certification criteria for large enterprises and SMEs alike in the Certified Health & Productivity Management Organization Recognition Program. However, many companies still face the issue of stagnating smoking rate decline. As a new measure, increasing numbers of companies now aim to reduce smoking rates by adopting MinChallenge Smoking Cessation. MinChallenge Smoking Cessation is a program supervised by smoking cessation research pioneer Dr. Hiroshi Owada, an occupational physician, using peer support between smokers and smoking cessation aids (nicotine gum/patches). Companies adopting MinChallenge Smoking Cessation have seen significant increases in employees attempting to quit, with high average successful quit rates of 52% (as of January 2024), exceeding the 31% rate of smoking cessation clinics. In the 1 year since launch, it has been adopted by over 20 major health insurance societies, with a total of 1,403 participants so far.
• Medical cost optimization: Of the 1,403 participants, 1,300 responded, with 640 successfully quitting smoking. This results in estimated direct medical cost reductions of JPY 151.21m, and estimated comprehensive health insurance burden reductions of JPY 843.3m.
• Future outlook: A10 aims to promote corporate smoking cessation efforts by achieving adoption in over 100 companies within the next 4 years.

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