～We promote hands-on childcare that creates happiness for parents and children by "making all of society into a garden for children.
- The following is content from the press release -
(President: Yutaka Shibata, hereinafter "JR East Startup"), a subsidiary of JR East and a CVC that promotes investment in and collaboration with venture companies, and grow&partners Co. (President: Keiko Kowaki; hereinafter "grow&partners"), which provides the temporary childcare service "Asuiku" available on LINE, will promote a hands-on childcare service where children can be taken care of at stations and shopping centers and experience their favorite trains, and further accelerate their efforts to provide childcare that makes parents want to "leave" their children without feeling guilty. In order to further accelerate this initiative, the two companies have agreed to form a capital and business alliance.
Past and Future Initiatives of the JR East Group and ASUKINO
grow&partners is a selected company for the JR East Startup Program 2022 Autumn. grow&partners and JR East conducted a demonstration experiment of "childcare that makes parents and children want to leave their children with us", using the station and railroad assets of the JR East Group to provide experiences that develop children's "aptitude" and help them grow and create smiles on parents' faces. The experiment was conducted to demonstrate the "childcare that makes parents and children want to leave their children with us.
The first program, "Eki-iku," was a program to learn about and experience trains while temporarily taking care of children at Ueno Station. The second program, "Yama-iku," was a collaboration with a local outdoor childcare facility and the Koumi Line, a local train line, to provide traveling childcare to experience local attractions and experiences unique to the region. The third program, "Happiiku," or "childcare that creates happiness," was implemented in collaboration with Atre Ebisu, operated by Atre Co. All of the programs provided an irreplaceable time for customers.
The JR East Group is working on a childcare support business utilizing a wide range of the Group's management resources, aiming to "create new value and services with people as the starting point" as stated in the Group Management Vision "Transformation 2027".
Through this capital and business alliance with grow&partners, we aim to contribute to the alleviation of various concerns and burdens of child-rearing and realize a "spiritually rich" child-rearing lifestyle that all parents and children can enjoy.
Winter in the Mountains Registration is now being accepted!
Yamaiku" by ASUKUIKU and JR East Japan provides families living mainly in the city center with an irreplaceable time to experience "forest daycare," where children spend most of their day outdoors in the outdoors, cherishing their growth in nature and becoming a "secondary home" for the family. Following the summer season, visitors can also take part in a special hands-on experience in winter in Yamaiku, including a visit to "HIGH RAIL 1375," a special train on the Koumi Line that runs through the local area, and experience working as a station attendant.
Winter in the Mountains Registration is now open!
Dates: January 27 (Sat.) - 30 (Tue.), 2024
Location: Sakuho Town, Nagano Prefecture, Koumi Line Supervision Center
Childcare facility: Certified childcare center "Chiiroba no Mori
Fee: 80,000 yen per family (not including hotel and transportation)
Application deadline: Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Details & Registration: https://parent.asuiku.net/yamaiku
Yamaiku Online Information Session Archived Video
About grow&partners, Inc.
Asuiku, a temporary childcare search and reservation service operated by grow&partners that can be used via smartphone and LINE, is a system that allows users to search for available temporary childcare facilities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in real time, make reservations, and complete payment in one minute. Currently, approximately 50 childcare facilities, mainly in Tokyo, are available for online reservation. All communication with the childcare facility and contact information can be done through LINE, so even busy childcare providers can easily use the system in their spare time. This system makes the time-consuming process of applying for temporary childcare services paperless, cashless, and phone-free, and has also won the 16th Kids Design Award and the Baby Tech Awards Special Award in 2022.
Location: 2F-C, Shibuya Dogenzaka Tokyu Building, 1-10-8 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Keiko Kowaki, President and Representative Director
Date of establishment: December 2017
URL: https://growand.co/
About JR East Startup Co.
JR East Startup Co., Ltd. is a corporate venture capital firm that promotes co-creation between the JR East Group and startup companies.
Location: TokyoYard Building 7F, 2-21-42 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Yutaka Shibata, President and Representative Director
Shareholder: East Japan Railway Company (100%)
Date of establishment: February 20, 2018
Investment limit: 5 billion yen
Contact: E-mail:info@jrestartup.co.jp
Home Page: https://jrestartup.co.jp
