フラー

フラー株式会社 (Fuller, Inc.) is a Japanese company working across the smartphone-app and broader digital domain, providing business development consulting, UI/UX design, system development and app usage data analysis. It originated as a University of Tsukuba spin-out and was established in November 2011. Its headquarters is in Sasaguchi 1-2, Chuo-ku, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, and the company operates a "double headquarters" arrangement after adding a Niigata base in 2017 and later shifting head-office functions there.

The company's principal named services are App Ape, an app analytics service that supplies actual smartphone app usage data, and D-FULLER, described as an app and digital creation alliance. App Ape provides data on which apps are used, when, by whom and how much, alongside store information and attribute data, with coverage of seven countries in addition to Japan. Fuller also runs a digital partner business supporting clients' app and web initiatives.

Fuller listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market on 24 July 2025 (securities code 387A), becoming, per the company's chairman, the first Niigata-prefecture company to list on that market. Stated post-IPO priorities include building out its sales organization for recurring order acquisition, strengthening brand recognition, expanding order opportunities and solutions through partnerships with other companies, recruiting and developing specialist talent, and reinforcing internal control and information security systems.

Founding story

The company was founded in 2011 by Shuta Shibuya, a Nagaoka National College of Technology graduate who transferred to the University of Tsukuba's School of Social and International Studies (Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems) and worked at GREE before starting Fuller, where he served as representative director and is now chairman. He describes the company as having begun from a desire to work together with friends, at a time when the term "startup" was not yet common in Japan. Fuller is classified as a University of Tsukuba-originated startup.

Business model

Fuller works as an outsourced digital partner, taking on consulting, design and development engagements for client companies' app and web products, and separately licenses app usage data through its App Ape analytics service, which is described in categorized listings as a B2B subscription/cloud (SaaS) offering. It also operates D-FULLER, an alliance structure for app and digital creation.

Fee-based client engagements for consulting, design and development work, together with subscription-style licensing of app analytics data via App Ape.

Traction

App Ape has been used by more than 5,000 companies and organizations in Japan and overseas. Headcount is reported at up to approximately 300 with an average employee age of 31.2. The July 2025 IPO produced a first-day market capitalization of 8,817 million yen; pre-IPO press coverage cited a valuation of roughly 1.88 billion yen.

Latest developments

Following the 2025 TSE Growth listing, Fuller has continued publishing app usage research (including retail app usage time trends), received the 43rd Niigata Prefecture Economic Promotion Award, sponsored Designship 2026 as a GOLD sponsor, and co-hosted a seminar on AI and apps in retail with Infcurion and Yappli. The chairman is also driving LAST NIIGATA, an integrated Niigata innovation week event.