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Sparticle

Category: Foundation Models / LLMs

An AI-native ecosystem focused on bridging global information gaps through cross-language AI search, real-time simultaneous translation, and enterprise knowledge management (RAG). Sparticle was founded in 2019. The company is led by Jeffery Jin. Based in Tokyo, Japan. Team size: 60. Total funding raised: $7.0M. Latest round: Series A (Nov 2024). Key investors include ["Wisemont Capital","SB C&S (SoftBank Group)","US Venture Funds","Private Angel Investors"].

Founded
2019
Headquarters
Tokyo, Japan
Team size
60
Total funding
$7.0M

Value proposition

Eliminates language barriers in information gathering and communication by combining proprietary high-speed translation (RRT) with a global-scale AI search engine optimized for Japanese nuances.

Products and solutions

["Felo.ai: A cross-lingual AI search engine that translates global web results into the user's native language in real-time.","GBase (formerly GPTBase): An enterprise-grade RAG solution for secure internal document search, summarization, and AI agent creation.","Felo Translator / Felo Subtitles: Real-time simultaneous interpretation tools for meetings and live streams using RRT technology.","Glarity: An AI-powered browser extension for quick summarization of web pages, YouTube videos, and search results.","FeloLLM: A specialized large language model optimized for high-precision Japanese language processing including honorifics and context."]

Unique value

Felo AI's unique 'Cross-language' search capability allows users to discover and synthesize information from the global web (English, Chinese, etc.) using Japanese queries more effectively than traditional search engines.

Target customer

Enterprise clients requiring secure internal knowledge management, global business professionals needing real-time translation, and prosumers seeking cross-border information discovery.

Industries served

["Information Technology","Corporate Enterprise (Knowledge Management)","Media & Entertainment (Live Stream Translation)","Medical & Technical Translation","Tourism & Global Business"]

Technology advantage

Proprietary RRT (Real-time ReWrite Translate) technology achieves a high balance of speed and accuracy by performing an initial fast translation followed by a deep contextual rewrite; FeloLLM provides superior performance in Japanese-specific linguistic nuances compared to generic global models.

How they differentiate

Sparticle differentiates through its 'Cross-language' search capability, which allows users to search global sources (English, Chinese, etc.) and receive synthesized answers in Japanese with high linguistic precision. It also offers unique productivity features like automatic mind map creation and presentation slide generation directly from search results.

Main competitors

["Perplexity AI","Genspark","SearchGPT (OpenAI)","Google (AI Overviews)"]

Key partnerships

["SB C&S (SoftBank Group): Strategic partnership for domestic distribution and enterprise solution deployment.","AWS (Amazon Web Services): Participant in the AWS LLM development support program for high-precision model training.","Global Venture Capital: Funding supported by US-based venture funds and private angel investors."]

Notable customers

["SB C&S (SoftBank Group)","AKIBA Holdings","HPC TECH","40+ corporate clients for GBase"]

Major milestones

["Founded in 2019 by former Microsoft and Xiaomi executive Jeffery Jin.","Launched Glarity AI summarization tool, reaching significant global user traction.","Raised 500M JPY (~$3.5M) in Pre-Series A round led by Wisemont Capital in Oct 2023.","Partnered with SoftBank subsidiary SB C&S for enterprise distribution in 2024.","Launched Felo.ai, a top-tier Japanese AI search engine, in late 2024.","Completed a Series A funding round of several hundred million yen in Nov 2024."]

Growth metrics

Glarity (AI summarization tool) surpassed 100,000+ users; company reached a team size of 60 employees in 2024; revenue estimated in the $6M - $10M range via SaaS growth.

Market positioning

A specialized Japanese-market leader in AI-native search and cross-border productivity tools, positioning itself as a more localized and feature-rich alternative to global general-purpose AI search engines.

Geographic focus

Primarily Japan, with a secondary focus on the global market via its multi-language tools (Glarity and Felo).

Patents and IP

Proprietary technology includes 'RRT (Real-time ReWrite Translate)' and 'FeloLLM'; specific public patent registration numbers are not disclosed, but the company emphasizes 'world-first' status for its RRT implementation.

About Jeffery Jin

Jeffery Jin (known in Japan as Tatsuya Kaneda and in China as Jin Feng) is a seasoned technology executive and engineer. He began his career as a technical engineer at Microsoft and later served as a senior executive at Xiaomi, where he was a key figure in the development of their IoT and mobile ecosystems. He founded Sparticle in 2019 with a vision to bridge information gaps using AI and has since led the company to become a prominent player in the Japanese Generative AI space, launching hit products like Felo and Glarity.

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