STUDIO Japan

STUDIO, Inc., a Tokyo-based technology firm, has developed a web design platform that empowers users to create websites without any coding knowledge. The company was established in April 2016. The initial concept for STUDIO emerged as a project within the UX/UI company OHAKO, where founder Keima Kai was employed. Kai, specializing in interaction design and product engineering, had worked as a freelance engineer during his student years, which is when he identified the need to merge the worlds of design and coding.

Yutaka Ishii joined the company in 2016, assuming the roles of CEO and Design Chief. Ishii brought with him prior entrepreneurial experience, having developed and sold a travel service named Travee to a major Japanese travel company. Under their leadership, STUDIO officially launched its platform in April 2018. By May 2020, the company had secured $1.3 million in a pre-series A funding round, with investors including NOW, D4V, and the Nippon Design Center. This capital was intended to strengthen the company's organizational structure and expand its market presence. At that time, the platform had grown to approximately 50,000 users, with 40% of its user base located outside of Japan.

The core of STUDIO's business is its design tool that allows for the seamless transition from design to a published website with a single click. The platform is designed to be intuitive, enabling graphic designers and other non-coders to build websites directly. It provides features such as a collaborative content management system (CMS), built-in form creation, search engine optimization (SEO) controls, and the ability to import Lottie animations and Figma designs. The business model operates on a subscription basis, offering different pricing plans to its clients, which range from individual designers to agencies. The service caters to those who need to create static websites and, as of 2020, was planning to introduce features for more dynamic site creation, such as advanced animations and a more robust CMS.

Keywords: no-code web design, visual website builder, STUDIO Inc., Keima Kai, Yutaka Ishii, Japanese technology, design to code, online design tool, website publishing platform, Figma to website, collaborative web design, CMS, SEO tools, creative freedom, interaction design, product engineering, static website generator, dynamic website creation, user interface design, web development platform