Umbrella sharing service iKasa grows with sharing economy appeal

In December 2018, Marukawa Shoji, representative director of the Nature Innovation Group, launched an umbrella sharing service called iKasa. Just six months later, his company has received a capital input of 30 yen million as users and businesses embrace the sharing economy model.

iKasa – based on the Japanese word for umbrella – began with 50 spots in Shibuya that hosted its unique umbrella dispensers. It now has around 220 dispensers in areas including Ueno, and further away in southern Japan’s Fukuoka City. That brings the total to somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 umbrellas. Currently, there are more than 38,000 registered users and about 270 partner sites.

It’s been a fast ride for the company, with the service catching media’s attention and the public’s imagination. Marukawa attributes iKasa’s growth to the greater awareness of the concept of a sharing economy and of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.

The company aims to replace the estimated 80 million disposable umbrellas consumed in Japan annually.

Marukawa shared that before the service’s launch, they needed to make cold sales calls to one company after another to earn a spot for an umbrella stand. However, the company is now developing for new sites faster than it first imagined possible.

”Now we are receiving calls after calls. People knew about the service before we start talking about it. In just half a year, companies’ responses have changed greatly, with some businesses saying they would even pay to have iKasa on their premises,” said Marukawa.

On June 12, the Nature Innovation Group announced that it has received funding of 30 yen million via a third-party allotment from JR East Start Up and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital. It plans to use the funds to make more umbrellas and expand the number of iKasa dispensers and service areas. It wants to provide 30,000 umbrellas by 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games.

A business tie-up with JR East Start Up will help it speed up the introduction of iKasa to stations and station buildings.

Here’s how to borrow an iKasa umbrella

To borrow an iKasa, customers use the LINE mobile-phone application to locate a dispenser, and then use their phones to read a QR code, which unlocks the umbrella stand. You can return the umbrellas to any iKasa stand. Furthermore, it still costs only 70 yen per day regardless how many times it’s used in a day.

Users can also opt to subscribe with a maximum monthly fee of 420 yen. That users will not pay for usage of more than seven days in one month. Credit cards or LINE Pay can be used to make payments.

Almost all the umbrellas are returned too, since payment details and LINE identification are used during the service.

Meeting market needs and solving umbrella waste problem

The service particularly suits the Japanese market, where intermittent rain is not unusual. Consumers also prefer to carry as little baggage as possible, especially a wet umbrella on a crowded train. Its dense urban populations dependent on train transport make the service particularly viable.

Marukawa shared how the JR railway company estimates that it throws away tens of millions of forgotten umbrellas each year, which entails disposal cost. On the other hand, our users will use the iKasa umbrellas again and again. “It also fits with the idea of improving urban life by making travel more convenient.”

From June 12, the company started placing iKasa dispensers in the popular Tokyo sightseeing spot of Ueno. About 50 will be placed at train stations, department stores, shopping centers and the museums in Ueno.

“In six months of operation, we learned that location decides whether a user uses our umbrella. So first, we want to mainly increase the number of spots near train stations. Then we’d like to expand to retail facilities, offices and residences. If we can create an environment in which anyone can quickly borrow an umbrella when it rains, they can then travel empty handed. We want to make iKasa part of the infrastructure of rainy days,” said Marukawa.