VUILD Raises a Total of 200 Million Yen in Loans from Shoko Chukin Bank

VUILD Inc. (hereinafter “VUILD”) has raised 200 million yen from The Shoko Chukin Bank, Ltd. (Kanagawa Sales Department) through an unsecured, unguaranteed, non-dilutive loan.

Under the banner “Toward a society where living and making go hand in hand,” VUILD works to realize a society in which everyone can make the things they love. Its business centers on “EMARF” (https://emarf.co/), a digital making tool that completes the entire process from design to wood processing online in one stop, and “NESTING” (https://nesting.me/), a digital home-building service.

With this funding, we will secure stable funds for development investment and working capital during our growth phase, and will improve our software user interfaces and expand our service lineup so that our making tools and services become easier to use and reach more people.

[Comment from Koki Akiyoshi, CEO of VUILD Inc.]

“At the founding stage, startups need to invest in business development while still running at a loss. In that situation, most startups choose ‘equity financing,’ mainly involving the issuance of new shares or stock acquisition rights, while ‘debt financing,’ whose screening places great importance on near-term cash flow and the stability of the financial base, is seen as a high hurdle.

In this case, through interviews with VUILD’s management, shareholders and external organizations, on-site inspections and a detailed review of our business plan, Shoko Chukin Bank evaluated the cash flow and growth potential our company will generate in the future, and also resonated with our business model, which contributes to improving productivity in the industry and revitalizing regional economies. We are also deeply grateful to Shoko Chukin Bank for executing a loan agreement that is unsecured and unguaranteed, suited to the needs of a founding-stage company and its management.

In recent years, business forms such as zebra companies and compound startups have attracted attention. A style like ours, which blends social and business value, and linear and non-linear businesses, deploying multiple products to generate cash while reinvesting in ourselves, is probably well suited to ‘debt finance.’

Ours is just one example, but we will share this experience with many entrepreneurs, and we strongly hope that the range of indirect financing options for startups will expand even further in the future.”

◆ Careers

As our business expands, VUILD is recruiting new members year-round, regardless of employment type, including full-time employees, contractors, interns and part-timers. If you are interested in VUILD’s mission or work, we also welcome casual interviews at any time, so please feel free to contact us.

<Open positions>

・Design staff (full-time or contract)

・Design intern (student internship for April 2024 hires)

・Construction manager (full-time or contract)

・Woodworking fabrication (contract or part-time)

・Carpenter (full-time or contract)

For application details, see here (https://vuild.co.jp/company/#recruit).

◆ VUILD company profile

Representative: Koki Akiyoshi (CEO)

Founded: November 21, 2017

Headquarters: unico 1F-A, 3-4 Nisshincho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa

Business: Architectural design, development and manufacturing of wood products, sales of CNC routers, digital talent development, business development support, IT service development

Corporate URL: https://vuild.co.jp/

Corporate note: https://note.com/vuild

Corporate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vuild_official/

VUILD Corporate X: https://twitter.com/VUILDinc

EMARF service site: https://emarf.co/

Nesting service site: https://nesting.me/

ShopBot Japan service site: https://shopbot.vuild.co.jp/

Vuild Place Lab service site: https://placelab.vuild.co.jp/

Vuild Architects service site: https://architects.vuild.co.jp/