Check Inn Secures 200 Million Yen in Series A Funding Round

Check Inn Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Kentaro Tanaka; hereinafter, "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed a Series A funding round with Theta Times Ventures Inc. as the lead investor and Norinchukin Capital Co., Ltd. as an underwriter.

This brings the cumulative total raised since its establishment to approximately 350 million yen.

Through this funding, we will promote initiatives to strengthen our product development system and expand our business, further accelerating operational transformation in the hospitality industry.

Background and Purpose of Fundraising

The hospitality industry, while expected to grow due to increasing inbound demand, faces structural challenges such as labor shortages and low productivity.

In particular, the complexity of on-site operations and the significant amount of work involved are exacerbated by the fragmentation of tasks such as reservations, inventory, pricing, and customer management across multiple systems.

To address these challenges, our company has provided an all-in-one product that integrates a site controller, PMS (Property Management System), and a proprietary booking system, thereby deeply embedding itself in the core operations of accommodation facilities and supporting operational efficiency.

Through these efforts, we have been building a product foundation capable of serving small to medium-sized accommodation facilities.

This funding aims to build upon this foundation, moving beyond mere efficiency to achieve more advanced operational transformation through the utilization of data and AI.

Future Initiatives

Through this funding, we will primarily strengthen the following areas to solve the fundamental challenges facing the hospitality industry.

1. Product Evolution Utilizing AI

We will promote business optimization through AI, leveraging data accumulated in our core systems.

We aim to further expand the value provided by our products, envisioning the realization of a "System of Action" that supports and replaces actions traditionally performed by humans, not just improving efficiency.

Currently, we are also conducting PoCs (Proof of Concepts) assuming actual operation in accommodation facilities, aiming to transform operations to a level that genuinely resolves labor shortages.

2. Business Expansion and Enhancement of Customer Value

While our business growth has primarily been driven by inbound strategies so far, we will now actively pursue market expansion through outbound measures, webinars, and partner collaborations.

Furthermore, we will strengthen our comprehensive support from introduction to utilization, engaging more deeply with the specific operations and challenges of each accommodation facility.

Especially for medium to large-sized accommodation facilities, we aim to maximize the value provided by offering more deeply integrated operational support.

Moving forward, we will promote operational transformation across the entire hospitality industry while delivering value to a greater number of accommodation facilities.

Comments from Investors

Takashi Kitao, Managing Partner, Theta Times Ventures

Mr. Tanaka and I have had a connection since our previous jobs, and I am pleased to walk together again in this Series A round as the lead investor.

The biggest reason for this investment decision is the certainty of the business structure in the age of AI. Future SaaS will not compete on individual features but on whether they can secure data from core systems and realize a "System of Action" by integrating multiple services. Check Inn is precisely the only company in the Japanese hospitality industry pursuing this structure. It's a challenge as difficult as "creating an iPhone in an era when only feature phones existed," but precisely because of this, once established, it will bring about significant innovation, and we have high expectations for this.

As inbound tourism continues to surge, Japan's hospitality industry is one of the sectors poised for the most significant change. We are fully committed to supporting a future where Check Inn exists as an infrastructure at the very heart of this transformation.

Saya Koyama, Director, Norinchukin Capital Co., Ltd.

We are pleased to participate in this Series A round.

The current domestic hospitality industry in Japan has a puzzle-like structure, with multiple sites and intermediary systems intricately intertwined. Check Inn's "all-in-one system" has the potential to unravel this complexity and become a next-generation infrastructure that directly connects accommodations and guests.

As inbound tourism becomes Japan's growth engine, their approach of optimizing global standards for Japan is precisely what is needed in this era.

As a flag-bearer for the transformation of Japan's inbound and hospitality industry, we look forward to their continued growth.

Representative Comment

Kentaro Tanaka, Representative Director, Check Inn Co., Ltd.