Published on : Monday, February 18, 2019
The Chinese woman was using an augmented-reality app that recognizes buildings and provides specifications in return about the buildings in Chinese language — namely, age, price and yield. The app, developed by He Shumian, founder and CEO of Tokyo-based tech startup NeoX, has become quite popular among potential Chinese buyers, interested to buy Japanese properties.
NeoX is one of many Chinese tech startups that is finding Japan as a lucrative region by providing smartphone-based services to fellow citizens in terms of real estate and tourist attractions. Many of the founders are Japan-educated entrepreneurs, keen on making money on the popularity of the country among Chinese tourists and investors.
In 1997, the CEO first came to Japan as a data scientist. After completing his Ph.D. from Kyoto University, he started working for Japanese online retail giant Rakuten to lead the China unit of the company, becoming an executive officer in record time.
Identifying opportunities in real estate, He left Rakuten to develop and launch a Chinese-language database stocked with Japanese property related info, releasing his creation in March 2017. The database make use of artificial intelligence to add descriptions helpful for all potential investors, such as “close to station” or “high yields,” and holds information on 10,000 properties.
NeoX takes a levy from the real estate companies to use their system, keeping them updated with all reports that show the number of times the data has been accessed and other metrics.
For Chinese tourists, the site is a major help who may be keen in purchasing Japanese real estate, offering them a property preview before asking for a personal showing — a service NeoX arranges with a Chinese travel agent.