- Below is the content from the press release--
PROMOTION OF PARENTING DX TO PROMOTE BABY TECH
First Ascent Corporation (Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Tomoyuki Hattori; hereinafter referred to as "the Company") has increased its capital through a third-party allocation of new shares to Unicharm Corporation (Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Takahisa Takahara) to expand its childcare support services to ensure the healthy development of babies. We are pleased to announce that we have agreed to accelerate the realization of a child-rearing environment for the healthy development of babies by expanding our child-rearing support services.
We are a baby tech company that promotes DX (Digital Transformation) in child-rearing under the slogan "Changing child-rearing with technology". The capital and business alliance with Unicharm Corporation, an industry leader with the baby diaper brands Moony and Mamy Poko, was formed in recognition of the research and development based on the childcare big data that we have cultivated to date.
The capital and business alliance will be used to develop new childcare support services, expand sales of the smart bed light "ainenne", which is currently being offered to support bedtime routines, and accelerate the expansion and service improvement of the childcare record application "Papatto Ikko @ Baby Notebook".
Unicharm Corporation Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer Takahisa Takahara Comments
BY BUILDING A STRONG PARTNERSHIP WITH FIRST ASCENT, WHICH IS ENGAGED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AI THAT SUPPORTS CHILDCARE THROUGH THE SCIENCE OF BABIES' FIVE SENSES, SUCH AS CRYING AND SLEEP, WE AIM TO CREATE AN EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR CUSTOMERS BY DISCOVERING A "SIXTH SENSE" IN THE CHILDCARE FIELD THAT GOES BEYOND THE FIVE SENSES. FIRST ASCENT IS A COMPANY THAT DEVELOPS AI TO SUPPORT CHILDCARE BASED ON THE SCIENCE OF THE "FIVE SENSES" (VOICE, SLEEP, ETC.), AND WE HAVE INVESTED IN FIRST ASCENT WITH THE AIM OF CREATING AN EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR CUSTOMERS BY DISCOVERING THE "SIXTH SENSE" THAT GOES BEYOND THE FIVE SENSES.
WE DEFINE "DX (DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION)" AS THE USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOP PRODUCTS THAT MEET THE "DREAMS" OF CONSUMERS. IN ORDER TO ACCELERATE THIS TRANSFORMATION, WE ARE WORKING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. IN ORDER TO ACCELERATE THIS TRANSFORMATION, WE NEED THE EXPERTISE OF A WIDE RANGE OF PARTNERS, BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL. OUR COLLABORATION WITH FIRST ASCENT, WHICH HAS DEEP KNOWLEDGE AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY IN THE BABY TECH FIELD, WILL BE A GREAT SUPPORT FOR THE DX (DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION) OF OUR BABY CARE BUSINESS, AND WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE EXPANSION OF FIRST ASCENT'S BUSINESS, THEREBY ACCELERATING THE CREATION OF EXCITING EXPERIENCES IN CHILDCARE. WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH FIRST ASCENT TO ACCELERATE THE CREATION OF EXCITING EXPERIENCES IN CHILDCARE.
About ainenne
Taking a hint from the fact that humans can adjust their daily rhythm by being exposed to the morning sun, AINENNE was developed with the aim of providing light stimulation to babies who cannot voluntarily expose themselves to the morning sun, and to support them in adjusting their daily rhythm.
Main functions include an alarm function using LED light, a wake-up time recommendation function based on AI analysis, a white noise playback function, a cry analysis function, a bed light function, and a function linked to the childcare record application Papatto Ikkoji@Baby Notebook.
Awards: CES2021 Innovation Awards
Currently crowdfunding on Makuake
https://www.makuake.com/project/ainenne
About Papa-to-Carer@Baby Book
Launched in 2013, the childcare record application Papatto Ikko @ Baby Notebook has been used by a cumulative total of more than 600,000 people for childcare. The data collected has been used in joint research with the National Centre for Child Health and Development, and AI has been developed based on the research know-how to provide functions for Papatto Ikko @ Baby Notebook.
Main functions include childcare record function, cry analysis function, summary function, family collaboration function, etc.
Awards: 8th Kids Design Award, BabyTech Awards Japan 2019 Health Management Category Grand Prize, 8th Extend Your Healthy Lifespan! Awards, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award, Excellence Award, Corporate Category
http://papaikuji.info/
About Unicharm Corporation
Location: Sumitomo Fudosan Mita Twin Building West Tower, 3-5-27 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Nature of Business: Sales of baby care products, feminine care products, healthcare products, cosmetic puffs, house hold products, pet care products, industrial materials, food packaging materials, etc.
Website: http: //www.unicharm.co.jp/
About First Ascent Ltd.
Location: 2F Sagami Building, 7-13-6 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Business activities: development of the childcare record application Papatto Ikko @ Baby Notebook, development of the bedtime support smart bed light AINENNE, and provision of childcare support services
Website: https://first-ascent.jp/
