TSUNAMI Network Partners Newsletter April, 2008 introducing venture companies

SignalTalk Inc.
   Established in December 2006    Capital stock: 10.0 million yen
   http://www.signaltalk.com/ (Japanese)

SignalTalk does planning, development, operation and marketing for on-line games and other contents all by itself. It creates on-line entertainment while adhering to the independent brand line.
Besides "Maru-Jan," an on-line competitive mahjong game realized through a project finance scheme, its creations include downloadable puzzle games, "Story Tree" (in which a single story is composed by up to a million participants), and "Maho no Ocha no Ki" ("The Magic Tea Plant"), a flash game with an advertising element.
The company is currently promoting a project aimed at senior citizens, who have thus far been regarded as not having much involvement with on-line games. Because it may help to ward off senility, the mahjong game could very well attract a lot of attention.

in silico biology, inc.
Established in August 2004 Capital stock: 25.0 million yen
http://www.insilicobiology.co.jp/Pages/indexENG.html

in silico biology engages in the development and sale of bioscience software in the field of genome analysis. It is a university-born bio-informatics venture firm; it took its start in the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST).
For “in silica MolecularCloning”, its series of software with capabilities for analysis of DNA tiling arrays and comparative genome studies, it has already posted sales of about 500 units to major Japanese universities and national or other public research institutes.
Resulting from joint research with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), its “MetaGenomeGAMBLER” series of software to support DNA sequencing enables analysis, on personal computers (including Macintosh models), of base sequences, which are going to require examination in large loads from next-generation sequencers. It is hoping to establish its software as the global de-facto standard in the field of genome analysis. The software will apparently be an indispensable tool in the dawning age requiring massive storage of genome data in huge loads by extensive installation of next-generation sequencers.
Mr. Oyama pioneered the development of bioscience software in Japan. The high usability of his company's products has led to their application not only in drug development but also in industries such as food products, textiles, chemicals, and automobiles.
in silico biology is drafting a growth strategy that encompasses the prospect of global marketing.

Sahara Strategies K.K.
   Established in August 2007    Capital stock:5.025 million yen
   http://www.sahara-st.com/ (Japanese)

Sahara Strategies was founded in August 2007 by the members of an elite corps that had been involved in the construction of corporate websites for listed companies.
Its particular competence lies in its ability to provide one-stop services for work in all areas, from design and production to operation and analysis, for such construction.
In addition, it is currently developing a new commerce site engine based on blog motion videos, and intends to foster a new type of e-commerce business by facilitating commercial transactions with a high degree of freedom by people across the globe.
The company is developing and promoting communities whose members can view live footage of all sorts of on-going happenings around the world, shot with web cameras distributed to the various countries free of charge. With headquarters in the U.S. Silicon Valley, it would be ready to take off.

Knowledge Creation Co., Ltd.
Established in October 2005 Capital stock: 38.0 million yen
http://www.knowlec.com/　(Japanese)

Grounded in the key concepts of barrier-free/universal design, the company aspires to the emergence of society oriented toward knowledge-creating thought.
Its major activities are: 1) development and sale of "xpNavo," the universal-design screen reader; 2) coordination of demonstration experiments related to barrier-free/universal design R&D projects by corporate and governmental organizations; and 3) various commissioned study on universal design of mobile phones and providing solutions for development of barrier-free products.
In addition, it is currently planning for the commercialization of a web-based voice distribution service (vds). This is a new service that reads out web pages in a clear synthetic voice. Because the voice is dynamically synthesized with a SaaS server, the viewers do not need any special application software. The service transforms web pages into universal ones equipped with a function for voice read-out upon mere specification of the character strings which the viewer wants to be read. If incorporated into social networks, shopping sites, blogs, and other sites, it enables the construction of applications with voice expression. As such, it has a lot of promise as a service anticipating the coming age of ubiquitous technology.
The web page voice functions being commercialized by Knowledge Creation will make it possible to build new websites endowed with new capabilities for use not only by the visually impaired and aged but also the general public.
Mr. Shinjo, its president, is visually impaired himself, and is cultivating business by turning seeming weaknesses into strengths.