TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WAmazing Inc., a startup company developing a tourism platform service for overseas tourists to Japan (CEO: Fumiko Kato, Head office: Tokyo, hereinafter "WAmazing"), announced today that it has raised a total of JPY 240 million through a private placement of new shares to several strategic investors and regional banks. WAmazing has raised a cumulative total of JPY 610 million in the Series C funding, bringing the total amount raised since its establishment in July 2016 to JPY 3.14 billion.
Purpose of Series C funding
Since the resumption of individual travel to Japan and the beginning of visa waivers from October 11, 2022, the inbound market has been recovering quickly, with the number of overseas visitors to Japan reaching 1.47 million in February 2023 (56.6% of the figure in the same month in 2019). In response to the market recovery, OTA transaction volume (GMV) in January 2023 was 2.2 times higher than in January 2020, the number of monthly users (UUs) of our owned media (multilingual tourist guides for travelers to Japan) was 3.5 times higher that of January 2020, and the number of our registered members exceeded 400,000 at the end of January 2023. After coping with the pandemic over the course of two-and-a-half years, our growth is accelerating significantly, outpacing the recovery in the overall market.
In addition to the re-expansion of the OTA business launched at WAmazing's establishment, the Regional Tourism DX business, which was launched in April 2020 in response to the pandemic as our second business line, we saw the number of orders in FY 2022 increase 2.3 times over the previous year and the cumulative sales during past three fiscal years reached approximately JPY 1 billion. Moreover, our Inbound Marketing Consulting business was launched in November 2022 as our third business line in response to the full-scale recovery of overseas tourists visiting Japan. As a result, it has become an urgent need to recruit human resources and secure capital for growth.
In addition to growth capital, we will accelerate growth by promoting capital and business alliances with new strategic investors that wish to strengthen their inbound business, and by collaborating with regional banks that are seeking to revitalize their local communities through inbound business.
Investors in Series C 2nd funding (in no particular order)
- THE SANKEI BUILDING CO., LTD.
- PERSOL VENTURE PARTNERS LLC
- Higin Capital II Investment Limited Partnership (Higo Bank)
- Shigagin Local Revitalization SD Fund Investment Limited Partnership (Shiga Bank)
- Gogin Capital 5 Limited Partnership
- The Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc.
Message from Fumiko Kato, Founder and CEO of WAmazing
"Toward the Realization of Japan as a top international tourist destination after the pandemic"
The Japanese government has set a goal of welcoming 60 million inbound travelers by 2030 and aims to increase domestic consumption by inbound travelers to JPY 15 trillion by then. In 2019, the number of inbound travelers was 31.88 million and the amount of their domestic consumption was JPY 4.8 trillion, while in 2030 the number of visitors and the amount of consumption are expected to grow approximately twice and three times higher, respectively. WAmazing is a platform that matches inbound travelers with tourism resources throughout Japan and provides online information on local businesses with attractive tourism products and services. Furthermore, we have created a one-stop platform service for inbound travelers where individual travelers to Japan can make reservations and payments, and we will strive to contribute to revitalization of local communities through inbound travelers and realize Japan as a top international tourist destination.
About WAmazing
WAmazing is a startup company founded in July 2016 that provides a tourism platform service for overseas visitors to Japan. WAmazing provides online (Web, App, WeChat) centralized travel reservation arrangements (OTA business) for the five major consumption categories (accommodation, sightseeing, shopping, transportation, and food & beverage) of inbound tourism to Japan. Free SIM distribution machines have been set up at 23 airports in Japan with regular international flights, and free SIM cards are being offered to increase our registered membership. The main service regions are Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Southeast Asian countries, and Australia. WAmazing has built a business model in which growth is accelerated by synergy effects among the three business lines of OTA, Regional Tourism DX, and Inbound Marketing Consulting, and has increased sales and growth for seven consecutive fiscal years since its establishment.
Services provided by WAmazing
1) OTA business (Online Travel Agent)
*The following are examples of traditional Chinese character versions of services
WAmazing Discover (multilingual sightseeing guide for visitors to Japan) https://tw.wamazing.com/media/
WAmazing Stay (reservation service specializing in natural hot spring accommodations for visitors to Japan) https://tw.wamazing.com/yado/onsen
WAmazing Shopping (tax-free online shopping service for inbound travelers) https://tw.wamazing.com/kaimono/
WAmazing Transport (transportation ticket purchase service for visitors to Japan) https://tw.wamazing.com/ticket/
WAmazing Play (activity reservation service for tourists visiting Japan) https://tw.wamazing.com/activity/
WAmazing Snow (snow activity reservation service for inbound travelers to Japan) https://tw.wamazing.com/snow/
WAmazing Insurance (travel insurance for tourists visiting Japan) https://tw.wamazing.com/insurance
(2) Regional Tourism DX business (support projects for local governments, DMOs, DMC organizations, etc.) https://corp.wamazing.com/local-cooperation/, https://corp.wamazing.com/info/
(3) Inbound Marketing Consulting business (inbound promotion support for Japanese companies) https://www.atpress.ne.jp/news/337474
WAmazing Recruitment Guide
In order to grow our business, we urgently need to secure human resources as well as capital for growth.
Openings: More than 40 positions in marketing, engineering, travel product planning, translation, planning and delivery, etc.
WAmazing Recruiting Information
https://hrmos.co/pages/wamazing/jobs
Company Profile
Name: WAmazing Inc.
Representative: Kato Fumiko, CEO
Established: July 2016
Address: 201 Naganuma Building, 1-17-12 Misuji, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Paid-in Capital: JPY 3,067 million (including capital surplus)
