Cinnamon Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Cinnamon AI”), which provides one of Japan’s leading artificial intelligence (hereinafter referred to as “AI”) solutions, will invest in a fund managed by existing investor D4V and a fund managed by US Pegasus Tech Ventures. We have completed raising a total of approximately 1.3 billion yen through capital increase through third-party allotment to our major shareholders, as well as loans from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Japan Finance Corporation, and Shoko Chukin Bank, Ltd.

 

■Funding overview

We have recently completed a third-party allotment of capital to the following investors as part of the Series C round. We also provided financing from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Japan Finance Corporation, and Shoko Chukin Bank, Ltd. The total amount of funding this time will be approximately 1.3 billion yen.

■Purpose of funding

With this funding, Cinnamon AI will strengthen its focus on the following points in order to realize a society that fundamentally improves white-collar productivity.

- Appointment of highly skilled human resources (especially highly specialized AI human resources overseas)

・By building a strong shareholder structure, we will improve Cinnamon AI's social credibility, strengthen our network, and accelerate growth.

・Strengthening the basic technology and user interface of AI products

・Strengthening the organizational structure to provide more advanced technology and detailed services (Japan, Vietnam, and Taiwan)

・R&D investment in new area development of artificial intelligence products (speech recognition, natural language processing, etc.)

 

■Main funding sources

◯D4V1 Investment Limited Partnership (Head office: One Omotesando 7F, 3-5-29 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, unlimited liability member D4V Limited Liability Partnership Representative member: Kengo Ito)

◯Fund managed by Pegasus Tech Ventures (Headquarters: 2680 N 1st St. Suite 250, San Jose, California 95134, United States, Co-Representative Partner: Anis Uzzaman)

◯Geek Pictures Co., Ltd. (Head office: 2-27-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Tamotsu Osano)

◯Go Natsuno (Special Invited Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University)

◯Others

 

■List of financing sources

◯Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

◯Japan Finance Corporation

◯Shoko Chukin Bank Co., Ltd.

 

■Comments from funding source

D4V

“The market environment and future work styles are facing a time of major change due to the threat of coronavirus, which is the first time we have encountered this modern era.Cinnamon AI has highly experienced management members and excellent AI engineers, I strongly believe that they will become one of the companies that will create a post-corona era with AI products such as .We will continue to cooperate as D4V in creating products that support white-collar jobs in Japan and around the world."

 

Pegasus Tech Ventures

“Cinnamon AI is a venture company that develops global-class AI technology, and has engineering capabilities and systems that can be used anywhere in the world.From now on, the use of AI technology will become indispensable in everything in the world. I think there will be more opportunities for Cinnamon AI to play an active role. As the Pegasus team, we would like to support Cinnamon AI, which has global-level AI technology."

 

Shoko Chukin Bank, Ltd. Tokyo Branch

``The Shoko Chukin Bank conducted a business feasibility evaluation through interviews with user companies, etc., highly evaluated the Cinnamon AI initiative as greatly improving white-collar productivity, and provided the necessary funds for business development. We supported Cinnamon AI through our unique financing scheme.We look forward to continuing to support Cinnamon AI's growth and development, and to playing an active role in solving various issues."

 

■Future outlook

Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, many companies are transitioning to telework or telecommuting, and we are facing new challenges to how we work and conduct business. Since its establishment, Cinnamon AI has provided various products as an AI platform with the theme of "improving white-collar productivity." In the future, as further work style reform is required, we will support the promotion of operational efficiency and promote initiatives to support and strengthen the competitiveness of companies through the provision of AI products.

 

 

[Cinnamon Co., Ltd. Company Profile]

Company name: Cinnamon Co., Ltd.

URL: https://cinnamon.is/

Address: 6th floor, Spirit Building, 3-19-13 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Established: October 2016

Representative: Mirai Hirano, Representative Director and CEO

 

■Business content: Artificial intelligence product business, artificial intelligence consulting business

Cinnamon AI is working on developing advanced business AI solutions with the aim of creating a world where people can eliminate unnecessary tasks that occur on a daily basis and concentrate on creative work, and has a track record of providing them to many major domestic companies. has. In addition, we have established artificial intelligence laboratories in Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) and Taiwan, and have succeeded in recruiting a large number of AI engineers. Recently, in addition to the AI OCR "Flax Scanner," we have begun commercializing the specialized voice recognition technology "Rossa Voice," and have begun selling it mainly to major companies.

In addition, Cinnamon AI has many advanced AI algorithms based on three unique research areas: “Digitize,” “Structure,” and “Understand.” We are continuously developing business AI solutions that utilize unstructured data.

 

■Overview of AI OCR “Flax Scanner”

Most of the business documents used on a daily basis are unstructured and require human effort to incorporate into business systems, resulting in a lot of waste in white-collar work. Cinnamon AI utilizes an artificial intelligence document reading engine to fundamentally reform white-collar work. A variety of documents can be supported, including PDFs, Word files, and paper documents such as printed and handwritten documents. Currently, we provide engines to many major companies, including those in the financial and insurance industries, manufacturing industry, and logistics industry. Can be installed both on-premises and in the cloud.

 

■Overview of the voice recognition engine “Rossa Voice”

We provide highly accurate speech recognition by tuning the recording environment, technical terminology, and context for each company. In addition, by combining natural language processing technology, we can provide post-processing (information extraction, summarization, analysis, etc.) and even link with in-house systems, allowing us to do more than just transcribe. , essentially improving business productivity. Can be installed both on-premises and in the cloud.

 

■Human resource recruitment
Recruitment page (Please click here for available positions and how to apply):
https://cinnamon.is/recruiting/