株式会社ness

株式会社ness (ness Inc.) is a Tokyo-based software company headquartered in the Shibuya Dogenzaka Tokyu Building in Shibuya-ku. Its stated mission is to create unknown experiences and products that move people, expressed in English as "Create Soul Stirring Experiences." The company is led by representative director Naoya Sumii, with Tomoya Gamo listed as a director. It was incorporated in October 2021 and is registered under corporate number 6020001143484; its registered office was previously in Asao-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa before the move to Shibuya.

The company's current consumer products are mobile applications. tonton is a free English-vocabulary study app that pays rewards according to daily study volume, with points exchangeable for PayPay points, Amazon gift certificates and other point currencies; it is distributed on iOS and has appeared consistently in the App Store education category rankings. Dougaku is an app for learning English through YouTube and other videos. ness also sells a social media operation service specializing in street-interview content, covering planning, filming, editing and posting to social platforms for client promotion.

Before its current consumer focus, ness developed blockchain and NFT products. These included Spread, a Twitter-linked marketing tool that distributes NFTs to users who complete defined quests, and its corporate version Spread Premium; Unlash, which gates URLs, text and files to specified NFT holders; Campee, a service paying rewards based on TikTok video view counts; and Cypher Factory, an in-house business distributing NFTs via IC chips.

Business model

ness develops and operates its own consumer mobile applications, in which users receive rewards for study activity, alongside a B2B/B2C service line selling social media operation for street-interview content. Its earlier NFT tools were offered as marketing software for creators and corporate clients, including a paid corporate tier (Spread Premium).

Sources indicate tonton is offered free to users with rewards paid out in points, and that seed funding is allocated in part to validating a subscription plan; the social media operation service and NFT marketing tools are sold to client companies.

Traction

tonton has ranked continuously in the App Store education category since release, with user numbers described as continuously increasing. The company raised a seed round in July 2025 and reported paid-in capital of 26.01 million yen including capital reserve, up from 10 million yen in early 2023.

Latest developments

In July 2025 ness announced a seed round for its reward-based learning app tonton, with proceeds directed at learning-and-reward UI/UX, content expansion, subscription plan testing and social media content. Headcount remained at two social insurance enrollees through 2026 while the company continued developing its own products.