YAMAP INC.
5 known investors
YAMAP is a mobile application that provides GPS navigation and trail mapping for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, enabling location tracking even without cellular signal and facilitating trail recording and sharing among users.
Also known as Sefuri · YAMAP · Yamap Inc · セフリ · 株式会社ヤマップ
Investors · 5
Company profile
researched Aug 2026YAMAP INC. (株式会社ヤマップ) is a Fukuoka-based company that develops web and mobile services for hiking and the outdoors. Its core product, the YAMAP app for iOS, Android and Wear OS, turns a smartphone into an outdoor GPS device: detailed maps of Japan combined with the handset's GPS allow users to see their current position and route even in mountainous areas without cellular coverage. Activities are recorded as tracks and photographs and saved to an online "activity report" showing route, elevation, distance and cumulative workout history, which users can share with family, friends and the wider hiking community. Additional features include hybrid maps that can be printed from a PC, step counts and heart-rate overlays via HealthKit and smartwatches such as Apple Watch, 3D replay of recorded tracks, hiking-plan creation and member invitation, and a bear-sighting alert that pushes reported sightings to nearby hikers in real time.
Beyond the app, the company operates YAMAP STORE, an outdoor gear select shop launched in 2019 that sells curated third-party products, collaboration items and YAMAP-original gear, with a private-label apparel line using natural materials planned from 2024. It also offers YAMAP Outdoor Insurance, covering mountain rescue costs, injuries and damage to outdoor equipment, and publishes YAMAP MAGAZINE, an editorial title covering safety knowledge, skills and ways to enjoy the mountains. The company states its purpose as "the joy of connecting with the Earth."
Corporate details on record include Japanese corporate number 4290001063492, establishment in July 2013, representative Yoshihiko Haruyama (春山慶彦), CTO Ko-hei Higuchi and outside director Kentaro Sakakibara. The company is privately held with venture capital, corporate and public-sector backing.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Yoshihiko Haruyama intended from the company's inception to extend beyond the hiking map GPS app into outdoor products and fashion, alongside community and reading/content pillars, adapting the business model as the market and the company evolved.
Business model
Consumer-facing (BtoC) freemium mobile service: the YAMAP app is free with advertising and in-app purchases, and a paid YAMAP PREMIUM subscription is sold in one-month and one-year plans through app-store billing. The company diversifies beyond software into e-commerce via YAMAP STORE (select and original outdoor products, with a planned private brand), an outdoor insurance product covering rescue costs, injury and equipment damage, and media/content through YAMAP MAGAZINE.
Advertising and in-app purchases in the free app, recurring YAMAP PREMIUM subscriptions (monthly and annual), product sales through YAMAP STORE, and insurance offerings under YAMAP Outdoor Insurance.
Traction
Reported cumulative downloads grew from over 2.8 million in November 2021 to more than 3.6 million with 660,000 monthly active users by April 2023; the Google Play listing shows the 1M+ download band. Recognition includes the Good Design Special Award "Monodzukuri Design Award" (2014), selection as one of AERA's "Venture 100 to Move Japan" (2015), B DASH CAMP Pitch Arena championship (2015), Red Herring Top 100 Global Winner (2017), Google Play Best of 2025 wearable category grand prize, and the Japan Service Award Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award.
Latest developments
Recent activity includes support for au Starlink Direct so the app can communicate from all mountain areas (August 2025), an update to YAMAP流域地図 adding elementary school, natural-disaster memorial and water-source layers (September 2025), publication of the data-driven YAMAP登山レポート (June 2025), the Google Play Best of 2025 wearable award (November 2025), the Japan Service Award Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award (December 2025), a smartphone mountaineering-notification agreement with Hokkaido Police (July 2025) and with Fukuoka Prefectural Police (July 2026), the launch of the bear-sighting alert feature (August 2026), app version 17 releases merging search and climb functions into a single map tab and adding member invitations for hiking plans (2026), designation as the official app supporting Nagano Prefecture's rock ptarmigan conservation (April 2026), and a crowdfunding campaign to rebuild deer fencing to restore alpine flower fields at Mifushi Pass in the Southern Alps (June 2026).
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Described as Japan's largest hiking and outdoor platform and the most popular outdoor app in Japan, with a user community that shares activity records and mountain information; users compare it to AllTrails for the Japanese market.
Offline positioning using downloaded detailed Japanese outdoor maps, so navigation and activity logging continue where there is no mobile signal; a social layer of shared activity records, photos and comments; hybrid digital-and-printable maps; and an ecosystem spanning app, e-commerce, outdoor insurance and editorial content, plus safety features such as crowd-sourced bear-sighting alerts and satellite connectivity.
Technology
Smartphone GPS positioning combined with proprietary detailed outdoor maps of Japan that work offline, so tracking and logging need no mobile signal. Maps include elevation, parking and trailhead information and can be downloaded and printed as paper maps. The platform records activity trajectories, supports 3D replay of tracks with photos, syncs map data in the background, integrates health data (step counts, heart rate) from HealthKit and smartwatches, provides a companion Wear OS app that pairs with the phone app, and supports satellite messaging via au Starlink Direct for connectivity in all mountain areas. A watershed mapping product, YAMAP流域地図, layers data such as schools, natural-disaster memorial monuments and selected water sources.
Go-to-market
Distribution through the Apple App Store and Google Play with a freemium upgrade to YAMAP PREMIUM, supplemented by partnerships and agreements: data linkage with tenki.jp登山天気 for mountain weather, tie-ups with Club Tourism and Omatsuri Japan, agreements with Fukuoka and Hokkaido prefectural police to allow mountaineering notifications to be filed entirely by smartphone, official app status for Nagano Prefecture's rock ptarmigan conservation activities, collaborations with brands such as finetrack, joint seminars for local governments, and awards/official partnerships (including Ministry of the Environment national park official partner) that support visibility.
Hikers, mountaineers, trekkers, skiers and other outdoor enthusiasts, primarily in Japan; also public-sector partners such as prefectural police forces and municipalities, and outdoor brands for collaboration products.
Geography
Headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan (3-23-20 Hakata-ekimae, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Hakata AG Building 6F, 812-0011), described as a regionally founded company; services centre on maps of Japan, with app listings available internationally in English and Japanese.
History
The company was established in July 2013 and previously operated under the name Sefuri, which raised approximately ¥170 million in March 2016. A Series B round of about ¥1.2 billion followed in April 2018, and a Series D round totalling ¥2.04 billion including venture debt was announced in May 2024. YAMAP STORE was launched in 2019, and the company marked the app's tenth anniversary in 2023. Product expansion has continued with insurance, media, watershed maps, satellite connectivity support and a bear-sighting alert feature.
Risks & controversies
User reviews on the App Store report that, despite English-language listing, much of the app interface and account-registration flow is only usable in Japanese, with reviewers citing difficulty navigating the service and cancelling purchases without Japanese reading ability. The app collects and may share location, personal information and device identifiers.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 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 · 21
launches, deals, and filingsNew function that notifies nearby hikers in real time about reported bear sightings to help prevent unexpected encounters.
Watershed map updated with display functions for elementary schools, natural-disaster memorial monuments and selected famous water sources.
Satellite-based connectivity support intended to enable communication in all mountain areas.
Report analysing hiking in Japan based on platform data.
Business tie-up connecting the YAMAP app with mountain weather data to promote safer hiking.
First joint initiative implemented in Akan, Kushiro City, Hokkaido, and a second in Yokoze Town, Saitama Prefecture.
Partnership aimed at mountain travel and regional economic revitalisation in the with/after-COVID era.
The company opened YAMAP STORE, selling curated outdoor products, collaboration items and YAMAP-original gear, with plans to add a private brand of natural-material apparel from 2024.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- 株式会社ヤマップ｜スピーダ スタートアップ情報リサーチinitial.inc · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does YAMAP INC. do?
- Japanese company behind YAMAP, a GPS hiking app that works without mobile signal, plus an outdoor store, insurance and media.
- Who are YAMAP INC.'s investors?
- YAMAP INC.'s investors include Colopl Next, Hiroshima Venture Capital Co. Ltd., Iyogin Capital, MCP Asset Management, ZENRIN FUTURE PARTNERS.