Nulab

Market position

Nulab competes in the collaboration and project management software market, where both Backlog and Cacoo have been named Leaders in their categories by the software marketplace G2, and Backlog won an Overall SaaS Award at the 2019 APPEALIE Awards. The company reports more than 4 million users in over 190 countries and has stated an intent to become more competitive in the collaboration software industry, with growth focused on North America and Europe.

Nulab positions its products as simple, intuitive and visual tools for creators, with the founders' stated goal of software that is both functional and well designed. Its portfolio spans project management, diagramming and chat under a single Nulab Account, with cross-product integrations and an enterprise security layer (Nulab Pass) applied across the suite; Backlog also adds an AI assistant for project insights and document generation.

Technology

Nulab's products are cloud-hosted web applications; Cacoo was migrated to AWS in 2010 after its beta servers struggled with demand. Backlog includes an AI Assistant that generates insights, plans and documents and flags workflow bottlenecks, and offers a Kanban board view added around 2019-2020 plus mobile apps from 2015. Authentication and administration are centralized in the Nulab Account, with WebAuthn support enabled in July 2019 and SAML-based single sign-on, automated user provisioning and audit logging delivered through Nulab Pass. An extensive integration layer connects Nulab tools with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Copilot, OneDrive, Google Chat, Google Drive, Dropbox, Jenkins, LambdaTest, iCal and webhooks, plus importers from Redmine, Jira and Google Sheets; a Cacoo SDK was also released.

Go-to-market

Nulab uses self-service product trials from its website, integrations with widely used productivity tools, and a content-marketing program (the Learn library of guides, tutorials and how-tos, plus a blog and newsletter). It has built community-led channels including Backlog user meetups from 2008, the Backlog Community and Backlog World events, the Bowery Golang and Nulab Drinking Code meetups, and conference presence such as WordCamp NY 2009 and SF New Tech Japan Night. Third-party marketplace validation, including G2 Leader placements for Backlog and Cacoo and a 2019 APPEALIE Overall SaaS Award for Backlog, also supports its positioning, and it planned increased international marketing after its 2020 raise.

International teams of all sizes, from small groups of a few people to organizations with hundreds of employees across multiple departments and time zones, including software development, design/UX, project management and marketing functions. Enterprise customers with security, access-management and compliance requirements are targeted through Nulab Pass.

Geography

Headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan (Daimyo, Chuo-ku), with additional Japanese offices in Tokyo (opened 2006; Shibadaimon) and Kyoto (2010). International presence includes Singapore (sister company Nulab Asia Pte. Ltd., established 2011, plus the NuSpace venue opened in 2018), New York City (2014) and Amsterdam (2018), with early team members also based in Bandung, Indonesia and Taipei, Taiwan. Products are used in more than 190 countries, and the company has targeted expansion in North America and Europe.

History

Nulab, Inc. was established in 2004 with headquarters in Fukuoka. The beta of Backlog launched in 2005, drawing criticism on Japanese software forums because hosted ASP services from small vendors were then uncommon, and Backlog was officially released in 2006 alongside the opening of a Tokyo office. In 2007 the company began using outsourced development to expand Backlog, and in 2008 held its first in-person Backlog user meetup. In 2009 Nulab held its first company-wide General Meeting, moved its Fukuoka headquarters, and released the Cacoo beta, which it exhibited at WordCamp NY 2009. Cacoo moved to AWS and was officially released in 2010, the year a Kyoto office opened. In 2011 Nulab established the sister company Nulab Asia Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and presented at SF New Tech Japan Night; staff in Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan joined in 2012, when Backlogtool.com launched for overseas users and English became more widely used internally. Headcount grew from three founders in 2004 to 18 by 2012 and 23 across Fukuoka, Tokyo, Kyoto, Singapore, Bandung and Taipei in 2013. Cacoo passed 1 million users in November 2013, the same year Typetalk launched in preview beta (31 July) with mobile apps in December, and the client software development department was closed in March 2013 to focus on the three core cloud services. Nulab marked its tenth anniversary in 2014, when the Nulab Account launched and a New York office opened. Backlog released a mobile app in 2015; Cacoo reached 2 million users in 2016; the company rebranded in 2017 as Backlog passed 5,000 enterprise clients; an Amsterdam office and NuSpace in Singapore opened in 2018, along with the Backlog Community and the first Backlog World event; Backlog reached 10,000 paid customers in 2019; and Nulab Pass launched in 2020 following a $5 million funding round.

Risks & controversies

Backlog's 2005 beta drew criticism on prominent software forums because hosted ASP services from a small vendor were unusual in Japan at the time and businesses were reluctant to store private information with external vendors. In March 2013 Nulab shut down its client software development department to concentrate resources on its cloud services. Rapid early growth of the Cacoo beta also strained its servers, prompting a migration to AWS.