ゲシピ株式会社

ゲシピ株式会社 (Gecipe Inc.) is a Tokyo-based education company that builds learning content inside esports and virtual game environments, positioning itself as a "metaverse education" business. Its core product, eスポーツ英会話® (esports English conversation), launched in May 2020 and delivers online English-speaking lessons in which students play games such as Minecraft and Splatoon while communicating in English with bilingual coaches over voice chat. The program is output-focused (spoken English) and is sold as a subscription "edutainment" service that converts existing home gaming time into structured study time.

A second line, リスキリングeスポーツ英会話® (launched 2023-02-28 per one database), targets working adults who want to convert previously learned English knowledge into usable conversational skill. The company describes its mission as providing educational opportunities that expand individual potential through esports, framing itself as a "third" educational channel alongside schools and cram schools. Registered corporate number 1010001188948; capital of JPY 100 million; head office in Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (earlier listings show Kyobashi, Chuo-ku and Kanda-Renjaku-cho, Chiyoda-ku addresses).

Operations extend beyond direct-to-consumer classes into public-sector and institutional channels: a trial deployment of eスポーツ英会話 as part of public elementary school foreign-language classes in Kuki City, Saitama; lessons at a certified kindergarten affiliated with Higashi-Chikushi Junior College; and a municipal program delivered with a sports club in Takagi Village, Nagano.

Founding story

Founder and CEO Takuya Manabe graduated from Sophia University's Faculty of Foreign Studies, worked at Aplus, then joined Yahoo Japan in 2007 where he led service and new-business development, including the 2015 launch of the crowdfunding service "First Flight" as a joint venture with Sony. He has said his formative experience was time spent in arcade gaming communities, which he treated as a form of social education, and founded Gecipe in January 2018 on that basis. He became a visiting professor at iU (Professional University of Information and Management for Innovation) in 2023.

Business model

Subscription-based online lesson service (BtoC) for children and adults, complemented by BtoB/BtoG channels in which programs are supplied to schools, municipalities, kindergartens and community sports facilities, and to corporate reskilling buyers. Capital-and-business alliances with English-education companies (Globee, プログリット) and other partners are used to expand distribution of the esports English business.

Subscription fees for recurring online lessons, with additional/optional lesson products under development; institutional program provision to schools and local governments.

Traction

As of the November 2024 funding announcement, eスポーツ英会話 had surpassed 200,000 cumulative lessons delivered since its 2020 launch, a retention rate above 96%, more than 12,000 cumulative customer reviews and an average review score of 4.81/5 as of August 2024. The company reports that the share of students saying they disliked English fell from about 30% before taking the program to about 2% afterwards, and cites students achieving Eiken grade 3 in elementary school and grade 2 in junior high. A third-party profile cites customer satisfaction of 96%, retention above 93%, a 300-person waiting list shortly after the spring 2020 release, and more than 100 bilingual coaches. Headcount is listed as 85 members on Wantedly and "~100" by one database (2026-08), versus 8 employees as of March 2023.

Latest developments

Reported activity in late 2025 and 2026 includes selection for Nikkei Cross Trend's "100 companies creating future markets" 2026 edition (December 2025), a business partnership with インターファースト announced December 2025, an autumn cashback campaign for new eスポーツ英会話 enrollees (October 2025), a Minecraft speech contest (December 2025), adoption of the GPASS foreign-personnel management system (September 2025), a pilot deployment in public elementary school foreign-language classes in Kuki City, Saitama (January 2026), lessons at a certified kindergarten attached to Higashi-Chikushi Junior College (February 2026), finalist status in the Nagoya qualifier of Startup World Cup 2026 (April 2026), and a new local-government course with たかぎスポーツクラブ in Takagi Village, Nagano (April 2026). The November 2024 raise is also directed at hiring, organizational strengthening and preparation for a stock-market listing.