ガクシー
10 known investors
A marketplace that aggregates scholarship information for Japanese students at all education levels, offering search functionality, personalized recommendations, and educational content about scholarship options and application processes.
Also known as Gaxi · GAXI, INC. · SCHOL · ガクシー · 株式会社ガクシー
Investors · 10
Also in the syndicate · 8
Company profile
researched Aug 2026株式会社ガクシー (GAXI, INC.) operates a Japanese scholarship platform spanning three main lines of business: the student- and parent-facing scholarship information site "ガクシー" (gaxi.jp), the cloud-based scholarship administration system "ガクシーAgent" together with associated BPO services, and a scholarship-establishment service branded "シン・奨学金" plus scholarship-setup consulting. The company also provides student recruiting and traffic-generation support for employers. The consumer site aggregates scholarships, grants and tuition-reduction programs offered by foundations, companies, governments and schools, with keyword and conditional search (grant type, income and grade restrictions, application timing, combinability with other aid), rankings by number of recipients and total award size, categories for overseas study and study abroad, reviews from successful applicants, and LINE-linked AI search.
On the supply side, ガクシーAgent lets universities, vocational schools, local governments and foundations manage recruitment, selection, disbursement and repayment tracking in one system, while students apply and receive notifications online. Since 2023 the company has also supported the creation of new scholarships, offering corporate clients recruitment branding, CRM/PR and CSR/ESG angles, and individual donors named ("冠") scholarships and reporting from supported students. Related initiatives include the "サステナブル奨学金" fund jointly promoted with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, in which investment returns fund grant-type scholarships, and 公益財団法人ガクシー財団, which set up a fund for students affected by the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake.
The company describes the problem it addresses as a shortage of grant-type scholarship funding relative to Japan's roughly JPY 16 trillion in higher-education costs, of which about JPY 1.6 trillion is covered by scholarships, alongside an absence of practical mechanisms for the roughly JPY 100 trillion in private assets to be channelled into youth support.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Ryosuke Matsubara, a Keio University graduate, worked in corporate planning and recruiting at Mitsui Chemicals, founded ジョブテシオ株式会社 in 2008 (running IT talent recruiting programs at more than 270 universities across 33 regions including Europe, the US, China and India) and sold that company in 2017. Observing the gap between the funding environments for overseas and Japanese students — abundant grant-type scholarships and a positive, merit-based image abroad versus Japanese graduate students cutting research time for part-time work — he founded Gaxi in March 2019 to digitize the scholarship market. Co-founder and director/CMO Yasunori Daikuhara, a Hitotsubashi University graduate, previously spent about eight years at Recruit in HR and sales promotion business development, joined a Singapore startup as COO in 2013 and an overseas-talent recruiting startup in Japan as executive officer and Singapore representative in 2015, which was sold in 2017.
Business model
Gaxi runs a two-sided model: a free scholarship search and application site for students and parents, and paid services for the organizations that fund and administer scholarships. Revenue-bearing offerings include the ガクシーAgent SaaS platform and BPO operations for schools, foundations and local governments, scholarship-establishment services and consulting for companies and individuals (シン・奨学金), and student recruiting/marketing support for employers. It also provides application intake for public programs such as MEXT's トビタテ！留学JAPAN and Tokyo's 東京グローバル・パスポート.
Fees from organizations rather than students: subscription/administration fees for the ガクシーAgent cloud system and outsourced scholarship operations (BPO), consulting and setup fees for creating new scholarships, and student recruiting/branding services for corporate clients.
Traction
Reported figures include about 17,000 scholarship listings, more than 600,000 registered accounts, 7.8 million monthly page views and 45,732 applications submitted through the platform in 2025 (as of end-April 2026). Public and private adoption of the platform covers 300 organizations, 140 schools and 90 BPO clients. Scholarship-establishment support in 2025 covered about 100 scholarship programs, roughly 900 recipients and about JPY 1.272 billion disbursed. Earlier disclosure at the Series A (December 2023) cited roughly 16,000 listings, over 1.2 million monthly page views and 17,000 applications via the site, about 3x year on year, with ガクシーAgent deployments up roughly 5x in FY2023.
Latest developments
In 2026 the company reported media coverage on ABEMA's "わたしとニュース" (August 2026), Tokyo Shimbun (July 2026) and Business Insider Japan (July 2026); the ガクシー財団 established a scholarship fund in August 2026 for students affected by the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake; a first study-abroad scholarship was created in May 2026 from Epos point donations; and a scholarship lecture was delivered to about 800 third-year students at Kanto Daiichi High School in May 2026. It also announced a three-way collaboration with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and the Japan Fundraising Association on donation-based funding models, and began information exchange with the Japan Foundation Center in June 2026.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Describes itself as operating Japan's largest-scale scholarship platform, with roughly 17,000 scholarship listings said to cover nearly all programs in Japan, over 600,000 registered accounts and 7.8 million monthly page views. Recognition includes selection for Forbes JAPAN's "世界を変える次世代インパクトスタートアップ30社" and the REBORN prize at MUFG's Rise Up Festa, which led to an exhibit at the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai.
Combines a comprehensive consumer-facing scholarship database with back-office software and outsourcing for scholarship operators, and adds fund-formation services that create new grant-type scholarships with partners such as Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and the Japan Fundraising Association. It also serves as the official application channel for public schemes (トビタテ！留学JAPAN, 東京グローバル・パスポート) and for the Tokyo Council of Social Welfare's scholarship program.
Technology
A web scholarship database with keyword and multi-condition search, ranking pages and applicant reviews, plus LINE-integrated AI scholarship search for students. For operators, ガクシーAgent is a cloud system unifying recruitment, screening, disbursement and repayment/continuation management with online application and notification workflows; the company reports average reductions of about 55% in scholarship-operations working time.
Go-to-market
Direct sales and partnerships with universities, vocational schools, foundations, local governments, financial institutions and government bodies; content marketing through columns, blogs, scholarship rankings and student interviews on gaxi.jp; seminars at high schools and chambers of commerce; and earned media coverage in outlets including Nikkei, Asahi Shimbun Think Campus, Tokyo Shimbun, AERA DIGITAL, Business Insider Japan and ABEMA.
Students and guardians seeking grant-type and loan scholarships (high school, university, graduate, junior college, vocational and technical college students, including those studying abroad); and on the supply side universities and schools, foundations, local governments, public agencies, corporations and individual donors that operate or wish to establish scholarships.
Geography
Japan-focused. Headquarters in Tokyo: the corporate profile lists 1-21-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku (SHIBUYA SOLASTA), while a 2025 press release listed 1-1-1 Nishi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku (WeWork Hibiya Fort Tower). Programs listed on the platform cover domestic study as well as study abroad and overseas enrollment, and partnerships extend to prefectural and municipal bodies such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
History
Founded 1 March 2019 by Ryosuke Matsubara, initially under the name SCHOL. A seed round with NOW followed in November 2019, an undisclosed raise in February 2021, a JPY 100 million raise in July 2022, and a JPY 270 million Series A including debt announced in December 2023. Scholarship-establishment support began in 2023. The company has since built the サステナブル奨学金 fund with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, added the Japan Fundraising Association to that collaboration, taken on application intake for MEXT's トビタテ！留学JAPAN and Tokyo's 東京グローバル・パスポート, and, via 公益財団法人ガクシー財団, established a fund in August 2026 for students affected by the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake.
Risks & controversies
The company frames the market as constrained by negative public perceptions of scholarships as debt, fragmented information, and grant funding covering only about 10% of higher-education costs in Japan; its scholarship-establishment business depends on persuading companies and individual donors to allocate private assets to education.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 11
launches, deals, and filings公益財団法人ガクシー財団 established a scholarship fund to support students affected by the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake.
Gaxi delivered a lecture on higher-education funding and scholarships to roughly 800 third-year students at Kanto Daiichi High School.
Following stronger-than-expected response to an Epos point donation campaign, a first-term study-abroad scholarship was created.
Won the REBORN prize at the MUFG-hosted Rise Up Festa and exhibited at the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion at the Osaka-Kansai Expo.
Named to Forbes JAPAN's "世界を変える次世代インパクトスタートアップ30社".
Gaxi provides the application window for the national study-abroad support program トビタテ！留学JAPAN and handles applications for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's 東京グローバル・パスポート overseas support scheme; the Tokyo Council of Social Welfare also adopted Gaxi for its scholarship program.
Gaxi, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and the Japan Fundraising Association agreed to collaborate on creating new donation-based funding and social support systems, combining fundraising capability building, asset management and Gaxi's fund setup and grant administration functions.
Gaxi and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking jointly promote a grant-type scholarship fund in which investment returns are used to provide scholarships on an ongoing basis.
Gaxi announced a Series A round totalling JPY 270 million via third-party allotment and loans from financial institutions, with participation from Genesia Ventures, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Marui Group, KIBOW Social Investment Fund, Mizuho Capital and angel investor Miwa Seki. Proceeds earmarked for team expansion and hiring.
From 2023 Gaxi began offering support for establishing new scholarships, later branded シン・奨学金, for corporations, foundations and individual donors.
Founded on 1 March 2019 by serial entrepreneur Ryosuke Matsubara; the company was originally named SCHOL.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- ガクシーgaxi.jp · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does ガクシー do?
- Japanese operator of a large scholarship platform connecting students with grants and helping organizations create and run scholarships.
- Who are ガクシー's investors?
- ガクシー's investors include NOW Japan, Genesia Ventures.