Established in 2000s
In 2004, Takahiko Yunokawa engaged in franchise support and direct operation of private tutoring schools at C&I Holdings Co., Ltd. (formerly Venture Link Co., Ltd.). While marketing for student recruitment was going well, he faced challenges in improving students’ academic performance, especially those with poor grades. In 2005, he began developing ideal e-learning materials. In the development process, he realized that adequate solutions for improving the academic performance of students with low intellectual ability did not exist in the world. He began full-scale business development because enhancing the academic performance of such students has great social significance and is a blue ocean market that no other companies entered.
2005 |
Begin designing and developing the e-learning material “Surala” at CatchOn Co., Ltd. |
2007 |
Release “Surala” for junior high school students for cram school and school market |
Open directly managed school “Independent School CatchOn” in front of Komazawa Daigaku Station in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo |
2008 |
Establish SuRaLa Net Co., Ltd. |
Release ”Surala" for high school students |
2010 |
Hold the first “Surala Cup,” in which “Surala” users compete in terms of their effort |
Hand over all shares of SuRaLa Net Co., Ltd. to Takahiko Yunokawa and complete MBO |
2010s
In 2010, taking over the business from C&I Holdings, Inc., Takahiko Yunokawa acquired all FC Education, Inc. shares, and the MBO was completed. We then expanded sales channels in the cram school market, targeting independent operators and home learners, and obtained a patent for "Adaptive Learning," a function incorporated into our service, in 2013. Continually brushing up on "Surala," we introduced "Surala" to Japanese schools overseas in 2013 and participated in the JICA Private Partnership Project to correct educational inequality in Sri Lanka in 2014, followed by the start of full-scale activities in overseas markets such as Indonesia and India. Accelerating growth by expanding the domain of sales channels, SuRaLa Net Co., Ltd. was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers market in 2017.
2011 |
Launch sales of “Surala” for the independent operator market |
2012 |
Launch sales of “Surala” for the BtoC market |
2013 |
Introduce "Surala" in China (Shanghai), making it the first entry into an overseas market |
September 2014 |
Being adopted as a JICA private-sector partnership, launch a project to correct educational inequality in Sri Lanka |
November 2014 |
Open directly operated school ("NEXT Learners," next-generation private cram school) in Kikukawa, Sumida-ku, Tokyo |
February 2015 |
Being selected for the JICA's Small and Medium Enterprise Overseas Business Development Support Project - Expansion and Verification Program - launch a project to strengthen children's academic performance in Indonesia through industry-academia collaboration. |
May 2015 |
Open four cram schools for children from low-income families in Sri Lanka |
September 2015 |
Hold the first “Active Learning” event to foster the skills for the 21st century across grade levels and geographic regions |
October 2015 |
Takahiko Yunokawa, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, becomes an expert member of the Council for the Implementation of Education Rebuilding |
December 2017 |
Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Mothers) |
March 2018 |
Launch sales of “Surala" for after-school daycare service centers |
September 2018 |
Selected as an official project of “EDU-Port Nippon,” a public-private cooperative program |
June 2019 |
Selected as an official project of “EDU-Port Nippon,” a public-private cooperative program for the second straight year |
July 2019 |
Selected for the METI’s “Future Classrooms” demonstration project (Sakaki High School, Nagano) |
December 2019 |
Selected to conduct a case study for strengthening the mathematics skills of children in Egypt under the JICA Small and Medium Enterprises and SDGs Business Support Project |
Products and services at that time…
We released "Surala Drill," a drill-type learning material that is a sister version of "Surala," and "Surala Ninja!," an overseas version of "Surala Sansu (Surala Arithmetic)" for elementary school students. Having establishing a distinctive position as a grade-free, personalized, and optimized learning material with lecture and adaptive learning functions, we will steadily expand our market, including cram schools, school corporations, home study, overseas, and day service after school.
2020s
In 2020, we provided IDs free of charge to elementary and junior high schools nationwide that were temporarily closed due to COVID-19 and to cram schools nationwide that planned to provide home-based learning programs. At the same time, due to the government's GIGA school initiative, the introduction of personal computers and tablet terminals in educational institutions accelerated, which further increased awareness of our services. Selected for the verification project for EdTech introduction subsidies, its use by local governments also expanded. We have also participated in several demonstration projects of METI's "Future Classrooms" project utilizing ICT and been actively engaging in developing new educational perspectives and learning methods to date.
Having acquired Fantamstick Ltd. as a subsidiary in 2022, we will continuously leverage cutting-edge technology and focus on developing new features and services.
February 2020 |
Provide free IDs to schools and cram schools in response to COVID-19 |
June 2020 |
Selected as an official project of “EDU-Port Nippon,” a public-private cooperative program for the third straight year |
July 2020 |
Selected for METI/JETRO’s “Future Classrooms” overseas deployment support program (Indonesia and the Philippines) |
August 2020 |
Selected as a support provider for METI’s “IT Introduction Subsidy 2020.” Contribute to the start of learning at 672 schools with approximately 250 thousand students |
September 2020 |
Selected for the METI’s “Future Classrooms” demonstration project (Karuizawa High School and Sakaki High School, Nagano) |
November 2020 |
Implement a pilot activity for "Digital Education" in Myanmar as part of a research project for the introduction of decentralized smart infrastructure. |
March 2021 |
Obtain a third-party certificate for ISMS (Information Security Management System) |
May 2021 |
Release the first issue of the Impact Management Report |
August 2021 |
Selected as a support provider for METI’s “IT Introduction Subsidy 2021.” Contribute to the start of learning at 503 schools with approximately 160 thousand students |
October 2021 |
Selected for the METI’s “Future Classrooms” demonstration project for the third straight year (Sakaki High School, Nagano) |
January 2022 |
Acquire partial shares of Fantamstick, Ltd. and make it a subsidiary |
February 2022 |
Selected for Theme D of METI’s “Future Classrooms” demonstration project (Kusu Seisho Junior High School in Kusu-machi, Oita, and cram schools introducing “Surala”) |
April 2022 |
Participate in a pilot project conducted by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) in cooperation with external organizations Provide “Surala Ninja!” to public junior high schools in Indonesia |
July 2022 |
Selected as an official project of “EDU-Port Nippon,” a public-private cooperative program for the fourth time |
August 2022 |
Selected as a support provider for METI’s “IT Introduction Subsidy 2022.” Contribute to the start of learning at 261 schools with approximately 77 thousand students |
September 2022 |
Selected for Theme A of METI’s “Future Classrooms” demonstration project (collaboration with Kochi Prefecture) |
November 2022 |
Start the official operation of "Surala" at a model school of the project organized by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia |
April 2023 |
Achieve success in the demonstration project for the ICT education promotion model in the islands of Tokyo |
June 2023 |
Selected for the personalized and optimized learning demonstration project with ICT learning materials by the Elementary and Junior High School Division of the Board of Education of Kochi Prefecture |
July 2023 |
Selected as a demonstration support operator for the METI's "Exploratory Learning Support Subsidy 2023" |
November 2023 |
Selected by METI's for "Future Classrooms" demonstration project Theme: Creation of DX Human Resource Development Model by Linking Inquiry Based Leaning and Curriculum Learning Using EdTech |