TOKYO and PALO ALTO, Calif. – Oct. 6, 2020 – NEC Corporation, a leader in IT and network technologies, and NEC X, the innovation accelerator for NEC’s emerging technologies, today announced that Inguo.io is the first graduating company from NEC X’s Corporate Accelerator Program (CAP). NEC X guided Inguo.io’s entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) participants through the steps of customer discovery and development, along with business model validation. This CAP process allowed Inguo.io to systematically determine its problem-solution fit, conduct its product-market discovery, and then clearly define its target market within the U.S. As a result, Inguo.io now has a clear path for success from today’s official launch as a startup company in New York City, home to many cutting-edge marketing businesses that can greatly benefit from its offerings.

“We are honored to be the first graduate of the NEC X corporate accelerator program,” said David Wolfe, CEO and founder at Inguo.io. “Not only did the CAP give us access to truly groundbreaking technology from NEC, it also helped us develop a unique business model and begin refining it with actual customers in a matter of months. This combination of innovative technology access with a well-resourced and clearly defined mentoring process for commercialization provided us with a greater chance for rapid success than we found with any other incubator program.”

“Our NEC X CAP accelerates the development and success of startup businesses by pairing them with NEC’s cutting-edge technologies in fast-fail batch cycles,” said Shige Ihara, CEO of NEC X. “As the first graduate of our program, we are happy to announce Inguo.io’s spinout, which will provide a broad range of organizations, such as market research firms and academia, with an easy way to make sense of their data and use it to make profitable improvements.”

The NEC X CAP process begins by introducing prequalified EIRs, who have the right mix of business acumen and technology aptitude, to researchers from NEC Labs, who present and demonstrate the technologies they would like to commercialize. After these group sessions, such as the invite-only NEC X Tech Showcase events, prospective EIRs can apply to participate in the projects that interest them. Those selected as EIRs then drive the CAP’s structured commercialization process, including strategic positioning definition, customer development, and other business and marketing activities. NEC X funds each CAP project and can also provide other resources, such as engineers, designers and domain advisers.

In addition to EIRs, NEC X has a growing ecosystem of partners who participate in the CAP, including business development consultants and EIR advisors. Partner participation can also come in the form of complementary technologies. A fundraising phase is also included as part of most CAP projects, except in the cases where NEC is the sole investor.

Those interested in participating in the NEC X Corporate Accelerator Program as entrepreneurs in residence, partners or investors can visit https://nec-x.com or email contact-us@nec-x.com to request a meeting.

About NEC X

NEC X, Inc. accelerates the development of innovative products and services through the strengths of NEC Laboratories’ technologies. The organization was launched by NEC Corp. in 2018 to fast-track technologies and business ideas selected from inside and outside NEC. For companies launched by its Corporate Accelerator Program, NEC X supports business development activities to help achieve revenue growth. NEC X also provides options for entrepreneurs, startups and existing companies in the Americas to use NEC’s emerging technologies. The company is centrally located in Silicon Valley for access to its entrepreneurial ecosystem and strong high-technology market. Learn more at https://nec-x.com or by emailing marketing@nec-x.com.

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a brighter world.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at https://www.nec.com.

About Inguo.io

Inguo.io, Inc. provides automated Causal Discovery and Causality Analysis tools—a first for the data science industry. For more information, please visit https://www.inguo.io.

NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

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Media Contacts:

NEC Corporation

Joseph Jasper
+81.3.3798.6511
j-jasper@nec.com

NEC X

Eric Lawson
Kiterocket
+1 480.276.9572
elawson@kiterocket.com