SoftBank Announces Third Round 'SoftBank Innovation Program' Winners

SoftBank to tie up with 8 companies and conduct test marketing

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”) today announced results for the third round of its ‘SoftBank Innovation Program’ launched in November 2017. SoftBank will tie up with eight companies from Japan and abroad to conduct test marketing and consider future commercialization.

The SoftBank Innovation Program’s aim is to create new value by combining the innovative solutions and technologies of other companies with SoftBank’s own resources*¹. The third round of the SoftBank Innovation Program was open to five categories—AI as a Service^*2, Disrupt^*3, EdTech^*4, Home^*5 and AR (augmented reality) / VR (virtual reality). SoftBank received approximately 300 entries and selected eight from the AI as a Service, Disrupt and AR / VR categories to consider for commercialization.

Through the SoftBank Innovation Program, SoftBank will continue to seek to create new value by teaming up with companies around the world.

*1. For more on the SoftBank Innovation Program, please visit the official website (https://www.softbank.jp/en/biz/innovation/).
*2. Artificial intelligence (AI) provided as a service
*3. Innovative solutions that disrupt preconceived notions
*4. Solutions that fuse education and IT
*5. A variety of services and solutions (including smart homes) that use homes as a touch point

Outline of Test Marketing Items
Theme	Company	Overview
AI as a Service	Retrieva	1) AI x Operation Support for call center tasks by using AI technology
Disrupt	uLikeKorea	2) IoT x Livestock Livestock management platform that utilizes IoT devices
	UsideU	3) AI x Sales/Customer Support Hybrid AI solution for remote communication or multi-modal automated communication
	Nihonshu Oendan	4) IoT x Sake Smart sake brewing service that uses IoT devices
AR/VR	eyecandylab	5) AR x Media Solution that displays AR content on TV screens
	ObEN	6) VR x Avatars Solution that generates mobile/AR/VR compatible realistic 3D AI avatars, authenticated and secured with blockchain
	wrnch	7) VR x Motion Solution that enables free movement of avatars in the VR space
	Salin	8) VR x Social Platforms Media communication platform in the VR space

Outline of Companies to Conduct Test Marketing

Retrieva, Inc. (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
Provides solutions for various tasks by utilizing AI technology
URL: https://retrieva.jp/ (Japanese)

uLikeKorea Co., Inc. (headquartered in South Korea)
Provides health monitoring services for cattle herds using IoT
URL: http://www.livecare.xyz/new/

UsideU, Inc. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Provides hybrid AI solution for remote communication or multi-modal automated communication
URL: https://www.usideu.com/ (Japanese)

Nihonshu Oendan Inc. (headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo)
Provides solutions for sake, from brewing to consumption
URL: https://welovesake.com/ (Japanese)

eyecandylab Corp. (headquartered in California, US)
Provides solution that imparts new experiences to TV programs with AR
URL: http://www.eyecandylab.com/

ObEN, Inc. (headquartered in California, US)
Provides solutions by generating personalized AI avatars from one photo and a brief voice recording, authenticating and securing the avatars with blockchain technology
URL: http://oben.me/

wrnch inc. (headquartered in Canada)
wrnchAI uses deep learning to understand human motion and behavior from standard video
URL: https://wrnch.ai/

Salin Co., Ltd. (headquartered in South Korea)
Provides platform that enables communicating with avatars among users while watching VR video
URL: http://salin.co.kr/

About SoftBank Corp.
SoftBank Corp., a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984), provides mobile communication, fixed-line communication and Internet connection services to consumers and corporate customers in Japan. Leveraging the innovative technologies of other SoftBank Group companies, SoftBank Corp. is also expanding into AI, IoT, smart robotics, FinTech, cloud security and other sectors.

• SoftBank, the SoftBank name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of SoftBank Group Corp. in Japan and other countries
• Other company names, product/service names included in this press releases are registered/non-registered trademarks of the respective companies.
• Price, specification, contact and other information of products and service may be subjected to change. The information contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.