Science Arts, Inc.
4412・Growth Market・Information & Communication
Business
Science Arts, Inc. develops and sells "Buddycom," a cloud-based SaaS that connects frontline workers operating on the ground in retail stores, transportation infrastructure, nursing care, manufacturing, public institutions, and other settings. Centered on voice calling, it provides an integrated set of functions including video streaming, speech-to-text conversion, simultaneous translation, location sharing, and an AI assistant (BuddycomAI), supporting operational efficiency and DX as a replacement for transceivers and radios. Its main customers span a wide range of industries, including railways, airlines, GMS, nursing care facilities, factories, commercial facilities, and local governments, with the domestic potential market size estimated at approximately ¥190.0 billion. The company listed on the TSE Mothers market (now the Growth Market) in November 2021.
Business Model
Buddycom adopts a SaaS model that collects a subscription fee of ¥600 to ¥2,600 per month per user ID (annual contract). With zero upfront costs, the barrier to adoption is reduced while revenue accumulates through continued contracts. In addition, sales of dedicated accessories such as earphone microphones and wearable cameras (¥744 million in FY2025 (ending August 2025)) supplement revenue. Sales leverage an agency network of dozens of companies including SoftBank, Ricoh, and NTT DOCOMO Business, enabling nationwide expansion with a small workforce.
Company Strengths
ARR expanded approximately 3.6x over four years, from ¥296 million at the end of FY2021 (ending August 2021) to ¥1,069 million at the end of FY2025 (ending August 2025). The number of contracted companies at the end of FY2025 (ending August 2025) reached 1,562 (versus 1,077 at the end of the prior period), a net increase of 485 companies for the year. High customer retention rates, with NRR of 118.0% and a monthly churn rate of 0.42%, achieve both revenue stability and growth simultaneously.
Development of Buddycom is entirely in-house, enabling stable operation and agile addition of new features. Patents covering voice communication, video streaming, location tracking control, and other technologies have been obtained domestically and internationally in Japan, the US, Europe, China, South Korea, Singapore, and elsewhere. In FY2025 (ending August 2025), the number of supported translation languages was expanded to 23, and new features such as BuddycomAI and Safety Support were added.
In October 2024, the company conducted a third-party allotment of new shares to Rakuten Group and JVCKenwood (increasing capital to ¥442 million). The company is advancing collaborative development leveraging Rakuten's AI technology and solutions, as well as joint development of IP radios with JVCKenwood. Through these strategic capital alliances, the company is simultaneously strengthening its technological capabilities and expanding its sales channels.
ENVALITH's Perspective
Performance Trend
Revenue grew at an annual rate of approximately 40%, from ¥660 million in FY2022 to ¥772 million in FY2023, ¥1,185 million in FY2024, and ¥1,655 million in FY2025. Cumulative results for the third quarter (nine months) of FY2026 (ending March 2026) reached ¥1,564 million (up 34.9% year-on-year), maintaining high growth. Operating profit turned positive at ¥107 million in FY2025 after losses in FY2023 and FY2024, and expanded sharply to ¥149 million (up 160.6% year-on-year) in the cumulative third quarter of FY2026 (ending March 2026). Despite an accounting change in estimates—a shortened useful life for fixed assets associated with the head office relocation (resulting in a temporary increase in depreciation expense)—which depressed profit by approximately ¥31 million, the company achieved substantial profit growth. The revised full-year forecast calls for revenue of ¥2,130 million (up 28.7% year-on-year) and operating profit of ¥220 million (up 105.1% year-on-year).
Growth Strategy
Growth acceleration driven by four pillars centered on ARR expansion: new customer acquisition, ARPU improvement, strategic alliances, and feature enhancement
Increased advertising expenses to raise brand awareness and implemented focused-industry initiatives. The number of contracted companies as of the end of Q3 FY2026 (ending March 2026) reached 1,828 (up from 1,562 at the end of the previous fiscal year), a net increase of 266 companies over nine months. Efforts to strengthen agency sales capabilities are also underway in parallel, accelerating new customer acquisition, including in the SMB segment.
The company continues to add high-value-added features such as BuddycomAI, video streaming, simultaneous translation, and wearable camera integration, aiming to raise ARPU through upselling and cross-selling to existing customers. ARR increased by ¥196 million over nine months, from ¥1,069 million at the end of the previous fiscal year to ¥1,265 million at the end of Q3, and it is inferred that improvements in per-user usage fees have contributed to this growth.
In addition to deepening relationships with existing agencies such as SoftBank, NTT DOCOMO Business, and Ricoh, the company continues to strengthen its technology and sales channels by leveraging capital and business alliances with Rakuten and JVCKENWOOD. The policy is to accelerate nationwide expansion through an indirect sales model while containing in-house sales costs.
In addition to the cloud-based Buddycom, sales from on-premise and other new products/services amounted to ¥2 million (¥2,434 thousand) on a cumulative basis for Q3 of the current fiscal year. This appears to reflect an effort to expand coverage of customer segments with high security requirements, but the sales scale remains minor at this stage.
Last updated: July 17, 2026