Locus Blue Raised Approx. 400 Million Yen in Pre-Series A Funding and Announced New Service “Deep3”

For all ScanX users and Locus Blue stakeholders

We are pleased to announce that Locus Blue has raised a total of approximately 400 million yen in financing through loans from the Japan Finance Corporation and a third-party allocation of shares underwritten by funds managed or associated with JAFCO Group Co., Ltd.; DNX Ventures; Angel Bridge; angel investor, Nobuhiro Ariyasu; tb innovations; SBI Investment Co., Ltd.; and, Miyagin Venture Capital Co., Ltd.

With this funding, we will enhance our sales force to expand the number of customers using ScanX and strengthen our development division, including recruiting a CTO and VPoE. We are also announcing plans for a new service called “Deep3”– an AI engine specialized for 3D data.

Background of Fund Procurement

According to a survey by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism（MLIT), as of the end of March 2020, the construction industry has approximately 470,000 businesses with a market size of roughly 60 trillion yen. On the other hand, due to the aging of the workforce and the resulting critical issue of a significant shortage of workers, the entire construction industry needs to increase productivity.

■ i-Construction in Action
In 2016, Japan’s MLIT launched “i-Construction,” a project to improve construction industry productivity. The trend to incorporate ICT (Information and Communication Technology) started on a full-scale basis. Currently, the use of 3D data in construction processes, including surveying, design, building, and inspection, is accelerating. In addition, MLIT has announced a policy of applying, in principle, BIM/CIM to public works projects (excluding small-scale projects) from FY2023.

■Expectations for the Expansion of 3D Point Cloud Data Use, Including the Realization of a Digital Twin

3D point cloud data is being used in initiatives to realize smart cities. Under the title of “Project PLATEAU,” a DX project for urban development, the MLIT is developing a nationwide 3D city model and open data service. Therefore, the use of 3D point cloud data is expected to expand.

We have raised this Pre-Series A round of funding to expand our business to promote DX, use 3D point cloud data, and improve operational efficiency in construction and other industries.

Enhancement of Recruitment and Organizational Structure

Our founder, Miyatani, has gained experience in overseas startups. Since our establishment, our company has comprised team members with a wealth of global experience and diversity.

Our engineering team, with excellent engineers hired from around the world,  conducts development in the English language and focuses on speedy product development. Currently, we are looking for a middle manager interested in managing such a diverse team.

Our business team is dedicated to serving our customers to provide essential solutions to the construction industry’s challenges. To strengthen our sales structure, we are currently recruiting a manager who can lead the team.

Careers:：https://locusblue.com/career/（main open positions:CTO/VPoE）
Team Members:　https://locusblue.com/aboutus/
Company’s note：　https://note.locusblue.com/

About the New Service “Deep3”

■ About Deep3

In April, we will release a beta version of “Deep3”, an AI engine dedicated to 3D data processing. We have begun testing the service on a trial basis, so please get in touch with us if you are interested. This approval will provide an opportunity for Locus Blue CO., LTD. to be known in Japan and the global community. We will make further efforts to improve our products.

■ Development Process of “Deep3”

Although it is now easier to obtain extensive, highly accurate 3D point cloud data, such as city-level 3D data, the final outputs vary wide-ranging depending on the users.

For example, for large-scale city-level 3D data, customers want to create building models from point cloud data. When installing power lines, customers want to use 3D data to learn the separation distances from trees. In the case of HD maps for automated driving, customers want to extract geographic objects, such as signs as vectors, from the 3D data. A considerable amount of manual work is required to achieve each desired final output.

However, conventional software cannot meet such needs due to difficulties reproducing company-specific, knowledge-based elements as automatic processes.

Deep3 is a service that tailors 3D data processing algorithms for each user and makes them available as a Web API. Data can be received and delivered on HDD for large data volumes exceeding a TB.

Service Site: https://www.deepthree.ai/