App Used by 1 in 12 Seniors - Hachioji City's 'Tekupo' Reaches 16,000 Users, 'Machi-Emi' Launched for Sustainable Funding

Bespla Co., Ltd. announced that the number of users of the health point initiative 'Tekupo' (Brain-Friendly App), operated in partnership with Hachioji City, Tokyo, has exceeded 16,000, reaching a scale where approximately 1 in 12 people over the age of 60 in Hachioji City use it daily. This is a high penetration rate rarely seen for official municipal apps. Based on this track record, Bespla and Hachioji City have been working on a pilot project for 'Machi-Emi' since December 2026, a new model that circulates the funding for point initiatives within the region. 'Machi-Emi' is a mechanism where advertising fees from local businesses are cyclically allocated to health point funding, aiming to establish sustainable health point initiatives that do not rely solely on municipal budgets. While many official apps operated by local governments often see usage rates of only a few percent of the target population, Hachioji City's 'Tekupo' has a high app retention rate of about 80%, indicating that digital health initiatives have taken root in the lives of seniors. As of the end of April 2026, Hachioji City's 'Tekupo' had over 16,000 participants, with a cumulative total of approximately 41.9 billion steps and about 27.38 million yen worth of total points granted circulating within the city. It also won the 'Grand Prize' in the public-private partnership category at the Japan Health Conference 2024 'Healthy Community Development Award.' Bespla will now expand this 'Machi-Emi' model to local governments nationwide, accelerating the nationwide deployment of a mechanism that balances the continuation of health behaviors and the revitalization of local economies over the long term.