Synapse Innovation

Synapse Innovation began its journey in 1984, originally established as Fuji Computer System. For decades, the company operated as a system integrator, building custom, on-premise solutions for clients. While successful, this model had inherent limitations; growth was directly tied to the number of engineers they could employ, creating a bottleneck that prevented them from meeting all customer demand. A significant transformation began in 2004 when Shigeo Fujimoto became CEO. Recognizing the constraints of the traditional IT services model, he spearheaded a major pivot. The company shifted its focus from being a system integrator to becoming a SaaS vendor, a move that allowed them to scale their solutions to a global audience without the same human resource limitations. This new chapter focused on serving Japan's robust manufacturing sector, a cornerstone of the nation's economy facing challenges like labor shortages. Synapse developed "UM SaaS Cloud," a cloud-based production management system built on the Salesforce platform, designed to manage everything from quotes and orders to inventory and production progress. In 2017, the company secured $3.92 million in a late-stage venture capital round, signaling investor confidence in its new direction. Today, with Takanobu Suzuki also serving as a representative director, Synapse Innovation continues to innovate, aiming to connect and streamline the entire manufacturing supply chain.