Mr. Manabu Goto, CEO of Helte Co., Ltd.
Focusing on Japan’s labor shortage and aging population, Helte Co., Ltd. has developed global communication services that allow people in Japan and around the world to communicate with each other in Japanese. Based on this service, the company has built a new business model that provides a one-stop solution to the problems of an aging society. In addition, the company is engaged in the introduction and matching of crossover talents overseas, which has received high acclaim from all quarters. We spoke with Mr. Manabu Goto, the CEO of Helte Co., Ltd., about this business.
―I hear that your company’s global communication services are getting popular with many local governments and patrons. Could you give us an overview of your business?
CEO of Helte Co., Ltd.
We run a conversational community service called “Sail”. This online service allows users to communicate with Japanese people in Japanese from anywhere in the world. Curious and active seniors in Japan, aged between about 65 and 75, are actively participating in the service. Sail is a Japanese global communication service that connects seniors with overseas people who are learning Japanese but have little chance to talk to Japanese people. It’s a one-to-one conversation community for people to connect and understand each other’s culture in Japanese across national, generational, and gender boundaries.
―What exactly is online communication in Sail?
We match people registered in Sail; that is, we connect Japanese seniors and foreigners who are interested in Japan online for communication in Japanese instead of English. The duration of a session is usually about 25 minutes.
―So, they only use Japanese then.
Right. They communicate in Japanese, so Japanese seniors who don’t speak English can easily connect with people overseas. We also hope to curb the increase in the need for nursing care and medical insurance by creating a platform for lively and active seniors with higher understanding of other cultures to contribute socially.
On the other hand, for those overseas who are learning Japanese or have an interest in Japan, this is a valuable opportunity to experience real Japanese and learn the culture firsthand.
―That means that you have created a win-win situation for both sides, right?
There are Japanese people, especially seniors, who have a wealth of wisdom and experience but have limited opportunities to use their skills after retirement, and there are many people overseas who are interested in Japan but can’t find places for real communication and learning. I think the fun of this business is that it can produce positive results by combining the resources and challenges of both sides.
Fortunately, this service has been received very well and is now used in as many as 158 countries. The number of interactive conversations has reached 200,000. We have also been working with local governments, including Kanagawa Prefecture, for several years.
―I heard that you have started a new project taking advantage of the AI-powered big data derived from the vast amount of conversations.
We are analyzing Sail conversations as big data and using it for job support and healthcare.
In collaboration with major IT and pharmaceutical companies, we are deriving keywords and emotional information from conversation data to use for the improvement of our matching and for the development of our healthcare business.
―What exactly is your “job support”?
Currently, Sail has 22,000 overseas users, and more than 60% of them want to get a job in Japan. They are all talent providers, rather than labor providers. We support them by matching them with Japanese companies that want to expand overseas or accept more overseas people. For example, we can match a foreign engineer living overseas with a Japanese company or a Japanese pharmaceutical company with a Taiwanese female pharmacist licensed in the country.
To help companies make decisions, our service also includes providing the results of analyzed Sail conversations and recorded video data and a system that allows Japanese seniors, even former employees of well-known companies, to write letters of recommendation.
―Please also tell us about your healthcare business.
Let’s say, for example, that AI analysis of videos shows, that a user has a tendency toward mild dementia. Seniors can use this to consistently check their health while participating in society.
In collaboration with the Institute of Gerontology (IOG) at the University of Tokyo and the Nara Women’s University, we are also analyzing and studying how conversations and interactions with people from overseas affect the mental health of seniors. Our findings suggest that the positive attitude of senior Sail users, with aspirations such as wanting to be helpful to others, increased from 49.5% before use to 66.7% after use. In recent years, more than 10 local governments, including Kanagawa Prefecture, have adopted Sail because it helps users improve their health and prevent dementia while having fun.
We hope to establish a solid regional model through this kind of collaboration with government and expand it across Japan in the future.
―I see. It’s a very unique system, but what inspired you to create a platform like Sail in the first place?
I have always wanted to create a vibrant society without division.
Actually, when I was a child, there was a time when I moved back and forth between the United States and Japan because of my mother’s work. She is a photographer. She was traveling around the United States with an American circus crew, taking pictures of them. I also visited many places with them, getting glimpses of different worlds.
Like mother, like son. I also lived in Washington State in the United States when I was a sophomore in college and in Goa in India when I was a junior. In the United States, I studied in depth anthropology, the study of human differences, and civil rights. In India, I experienced firsthand the caste system and felt that people in the world were still divided by race and origin. This experience instilled in me a question: Why do people become discriminatory?
In my senior year of college, I roamed around more than 30 countries. After graduation, I worked as an IT consultant for an information and communication company, but I quit after a year. Somewhere in my mind I was thinking, “I want to do a job that can contribute to people in emerging countries in a field like education.”
―You got a job after roaming around 30 countries and quit that job after just one year, leaving behind the secure life. That’s all very interesting, and I’d like to know more. Were you already thinking about starting a business when you quit, or did you take time to deepen your thoughts while working part-time or doing something after quitting?
I had already decided to start a business, but I didn’t have a specific business model in mind yet. I already had a desire to help people in emerging countries, but that was all. While receiving advice from various people, I became focused on the chemistry between various things, such as different cultures, different religions, different industries, different nationalities, and different sexes. Well, I would say I was kind of reckless. If I were to go back to that time, I’d like to persuade myself to stop immediately (laughs).
―From childhood to today, your life has been truly eventful. I understand that your global and diverse experience drove you to build a business model to create a vibrant world without division. Helte is now a startup gaining a lot of attention from society. Thank you very much for time with us today.
| Company name: Helte Co., Ltd. |
| Founded：March 2016 |
| Number of employees：17 |
| Main businesses: Operating the Japanese conversational community service Sail, operating owned media, and matching overseas human resources with companies URL：https://helte.jp/en/company/ |
| Sail：https://sailjp.helte.jp Sail Yume Project：https://yume-pro.helte.jp/en sewa-katsu：https://sewa-katsu.helte.jp/en |
This article is part of a series of articles introducing venture companies working together as ICF members to resolve societal issues.