Investment in Scholarship Platform Gaxi Series A Round
Genesia Ventures has announced its participation in the Series A funding round for GAXI, INC., a company that operates the scholarship platform Gaxi and the scholarship management system Gaxi Agent, from Genesia Venture Fund 3.
About Gaxi
Gaxi develops and operates a scholarship platform, offering comprehensive services to users, operators, and scholarship fund providers.
▽ Scholarship Information Site Gaxi (https://gaxi.jp)
Gaxi provides information on nearly all of the 16,000 scholarships available in Japan. With rankings and search functions, users can find the scholarships that best suit their needs. The site receives over 1.2 million page views each month, and the number of scholarship applications submitted through the site tripled from the previous year to 17,000. According to a survey[*1], Gaxi users are about five times more likely to receive grant-type scholarships than students who are not users, indicating that Gaxi is particularly effective for securing grant-type scholarships. [*1] Data from the “Scholarship Reality Survey 2023”.
▽ Cloud-Based Scholarship Management System Gaxi Agent (https://welcome.gaxi.co.jp/)
Gaxi Agent is a cloud-based scholarship management system designed for universities, vocational schools, local governments, and foundations. In 2023, the system’s adoption rate increased roughly fivefold compared to the previous year. It streamlines recruitment, selection, disbursement, and repayment management, thus reducing the operational burden of managing scholarships. The system also enhances convenience for students through its online scholarship applications and notifications. As the adoption rate continues to rise, the overall convenience of managing scholarships improves.
▽ Support for Establishing Scholarships
This service enables individuals and organizations to establish scholarships easily, even with a limited budget. The number of “original scholarships” set up with sponsorships from companies and individuals has increased approximately fivefold compared to the previous year. Services include pre-establishment consulting and post-establishment operational management (BPO).
▽ Student Recruitment, Hiring, and Branding Support Using Scholarships
This service uses scholarships as a novel marketing tool for companies focused on student recruitment and hiring new graduates.
[*1] Scholarship Reality Survey The company conducts surveys to better understand the current state of scholarship usage and to encourage more students to utilize them. By identifying the need for scholarships and financial aid, the company aids in advancing the overall scholarship industry.
Scholarship Reality Survey 2023: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000029.000051780.html
Social Issues in the Scholarship Industry
The scholarship industry faces several major challenges, which can be summarized into three main points:
- Due to analog information management, many grant-type scholarships are underutilized, while the use of loan-type scholarships has increased and currently accounts for 80% of users.
- Compared to other countries, Japan offers fewer scholarships, thus placing a heavy burden of tuition fees on household finances.
- For those looking to establish scholarships, the options are limited and subject to many restrictions.
Additionally, there are specific challenges for different stakeholders.
▽ Students and Parents
Despite the rise in tuition fees and decline in average household incomes that led to an increase in loan-type scholarships, grant-type scholarships remain underutilized. This is due to complex application procedures and numerous mail-in requirements. Misconceptions such as “I’m scared because it’s debt” also pose challenges.
▽ Scholarship Management Organizations
The new system for higher education support is making operations more complicated. Moreover, local governments and corporations have been managing their operations with paper-based and proprietary systems, which are already complex. Hence, streamlining these operations has become a pressing need.
▽ Fund Providers
At present, the motivation for making donations is low due to the complex process of establishing scholarships and limited involvement in management.
To address these challenges, the company has been promoting a business to create a new revenue stream that aims to enhance the potential of young people, in line with the vision to “Change scholarships. Change destinies. Change society.”
Purpose of Fundraising
This fundraising round is aimed at expanding the team and strengthening recruitment efforts, including full-time employees, freelancers, part-time workers, and interns. For more details, please visit the recruitment page.
About the Investment
Keigo Mizutani, Associate, Genesia Ventures
I am honored to join Gaxi in their endeavor to direct funds back to the youth who will shape our future. We will strive to make scholarships more accessible for students, parents, as well as for companies, with the aim of creating a society where students can discover and pursue their own paths from a wider range of options.
Company Profile
Company Name: GAXI, INC.
Website: https://gaxi.co.jp/
Established: March 1, 2019
Location: 10F WeWork Hibiya FORT TOWER, 1-1-1 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Director Ryosuke Matsubara
