Accelerating our expert knowledge sharing services powered by niche-target recruitment technology spanning 5 Asian footholds

Arches Corporation(“Arches”), a Tokyo-based global “Expert Knowledge Sharing” provider (a service that searches for experts on any topic and provides information on a timely basis), hereby announces the fundraising of $1.6 million (JPY 180 million) by issuing new shares through a third-party allotment to Uzabase, Hakuhodo DY Ventures, and 8 other angel investors. Through this funding, Arches will reinforce its recruitment capabilities in the latest topics of global interest and of experts in rapidly developing fields around the world, thus delivering the most wanted expert knowledge for our clients’ increasingly diverse needs. ​

Arches’ “Expert Knowledge Sharing Service”

True to our mission to “Share knowledge, Empower Asia”, Arches provides Asia’s largest knowledge sharing service from five footholds including Ho Chi Minh City, Tokyo, Singapore, and Shanghai. Users of our “expert knowledge sharing service” are clients looking for high-level specialized expertise to aid their pursuit of new ventures or finding the solutions of existing issues. With the help of a highly sophisticated team of engineers based in Vietnam, Arches offers an accurate “Expert Hunting” technology that recruits only the best experts in a particular field. This technology is the reason we can recruit highly sought-after experts to provide our clients with exclusive, relevant information through expert interviews or interview-based reports.​

Why we raised funding

As globalization, digital transformation, ESG concerns, and many other factors transform businesses, the way we work is diversifying, and more people want to utilize their personal expertise outside their companies. In a society changed by COVID-19, we believe that “Expert Knowledge Sharing” services that match the needs of companies with the knowledge of individuals are on track to become a common practice. However, only a handful of companies offer such services in Japan, or anywhere else in the rapidly growing Asian countries. The accessibility of expertise both in terms of region and industry leaves a lot of room for growth.​

Arches has already compiled a database of more than 50,000 experts in Asia. However, our focus is not just to rely on our database but to mainly use our “Expert Hunting” technology to instantly search the market for highly specialized, irreplaceable experts relevant to the needs of our clients. ​

Future prospects

As the only service in Japan that can find the experts our clients need from domestic and international markets quickly, affordably, and precisely, we are committed to improving our unique recruiting system and further empowering our team of Vietnam-based engineers and multi-national professionals. Arches plans to utilize this round’s funding toward the purposes listed below. ​

• Reinforce our technology and system developments in order to identify high-level experts in Japan and across Asia​
• Strengthen our sales and marketing structures to simultaneously provide our services to multiple potential clients around the world ​
• Develop products to accumulate expert knowledge in a reusable way to be able to share with more clients​

In addition to our long-term clients of strategic consulting firms and investment firms, we have been receiving requests from business management, M&A, and business development divisions of many large industrial companies. To fulfill the diverse needs of our clients, we will continue to expand our unique knowledge platform across Asia and optimize our highly accurate “expert knowledge sharing”. We are also poised to deliver niche and nuanced knowledge to a wider range of clients by accumulating and commercializing our experts’ versatile knowledge.​

Our investors

Uzabase, Inc.

Hakuhodo DY Ventures Ltd.

Globe Advisors Ventures LLP

Rocking Horse Co., Ltd.

and 8 other angel investors

Comment from Hiroki Kato, CEO

In the 2.5 years since we founded Arches, we have had the privilege of handling more than 2,500 recruitments and 100 report compilations across 19 Asian countries and 10 European and American countries. We count many notable strategic consulting firms, investment firms, and major corporations in our roster of more than 150 clients. ​

　In a society that has been transformed by COVID-19, we believe that sharing the knowledge of experts is exactly what current times demand. Our team of professionally experienced management, highly skilled engineers and diverse recruiters work together to meet that demand. We are grateful to the investors who share our vision and have provided us with new funding.​

　We envision a “Knowledge Democratization” where anyone can access any kind of expertise quickly, affordably, and precisely through our “Expert Hunting” technology. By bringing change to the past inefficiencies of networking and researching, Arches will continue to support the challenges of companies everywhere. ​

Comments from our investors

Uzabase, Inc. Co-Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Taira Sakuma

Uzabase’s core assets are data, content, and human knowledge. In recent years, our primary focus is on strengthening the aspect of human knowledge. In a world where change is rapid and the future is unknown, the knowledge of people with high expertise and unique experiences are the most prized economic information that help us foresee the future. Arches’ strength lies in human knowledge across Asia. Through the capital and business alliance with Arches, we will continue to create a cycle of human knowledge creating solutions for society’s issues.

Mimir, Inc. Chief Executive Officer/Co-founder, Mr. Soshi Kawaguchi

　We have been able to build a good, trusting partnership with Arches. Through this capital and business alliance, we have faith that we will be able to take our commitment to the next level.

　The expert network industry is a new hot market. What the industry demands is not just the expert databases of each company, but also the improvement of “custom recruiting” that can meet each client’s every need in a specific, accurate way. Through an alliance with Arches, who has accumulated unique technology regarding this industry trend, we aim to meet the increasing demand for Asian experts and to deliver diverse, quality expertise through our expert interviews and FLASH Opinion services. 

Hakuhodo DY Future Design Fund Hakuhodo DY Ventures Co., Ltd. Partner, Mr. Daisuke Urushiyama

　Arches runs a service that matches experts around Asia and the world with companies in need of their knowledge, which is widely valued in local risk assessment in business development and research for new business opportunities. Finding local experts can be hard for individual companies, but Arches aids businesses’ problem solving by building a vast network of experts and tailors its recruiting according to the needs of each company and project. We at Hakuhodo DY Group look forward to offering our people-driven mind and creativity to work with Arches and support businesses across the world. 

About Arches Corporation

Company Name: Arches Corporation

CEO: Hiroki Kato

Address: Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Established: May 2019

Number of Employees: 104

Capital: JPY 231 million

HP: https://arches-global.com/