Draft:Artics

Overview
artics is an interest-based, real-graph social application from Japan, established in 2022. Unlike traditional entertainment critique apps like Letterboxd or Goodreads, artics focuses on the social aspect of sharing one's experiences and reflections on movies, books, and music. It centers on how users discover and feel about these entertainment or art forms rather than purely evaluating the works. Originally targeting high school and college students, artics began with a beta version utilizing a closed community system, allowing interactions within educational institutions. The app's unique 'artics board' feature, akin to a mood board, enables users to express their personality through their favorite media. This feature, along with the app's compatibility with iOS and Android, has contributed to its growing popularity.

The team behind artics, led by Arata Nakatsuji and Nelson Sato, is notable for its youth and talent, with members from prestigious universities and backgrounds in media and arts.

Despite its official release planned for March 2024, artics already boasts a user base of 3,000 from Japan, the United States, and Canada, predominantly among middle school to college students. Nakatsuji, inspired by his experiences as a world-champion singer and the challenges faced by talented artists, founded artics to create a more efficient distribution system for art and entertainment.

The app has been recognized for its innovative approach to supporting creators and has been selected for various prestigious startup programs, reflecting its contribution to what is termed the 21st Renaissance.

Features
Targeting high school and college students, the app initially released its beta version with a closed community system where users could interact with others from their own educational institution through their school email addresses. The artics board, inspired by mood boards, allows users to create a 'fav board' representing themselves by accumulating their favorites. The app, compatible with both iOS and Android platforms, has gained popularity for its unique feature of creating more expressive personal boards.

Download link: Artics App Store

Release and User Demographics
Though the official release of the app is slated for March 2024, it already had a user base of 3,000 through a waitlist system. The primary user base spans Japan, the United States, and Canada, with the age group ranging from middle school to college students.

Team
The team is composed of young members, typical of social media companies. The founder and CEO, Arata Nakatsuji, along with COO Nelson Sato, lead the team. Nakatsuji has been recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30 Japan, highlighting the startup's prominence in Japan. The team includes founding members from top-tier universities like Stanford and UC Berkeley, and UI/UX designers from UCLA Media & Arts, known for its highly competitive admission rate.

Achievements
Artics has been recognized for its mission to center creators in society and enable them to earn a living through their expression, contributing to what they term the 21st Renaissance. In 2022, artics was selected for Techstars, a major accelerator, and the SCAP program by Japan Cabinet Office and METI. It was also chosen for Panasonic's 100 Banch startup program in Tokyo. The following year, it was accepted into Plug and Play's program and selected as a JETRO Media & Entertainment "Community" sector company.

Founding Motivation
Arata Nakatsuji, initially a world-champion singer at the Verona-International Choral Competition, was inspired to establish artics due to the challenges talented artists face in making a living despite finding their passion. He envisioned a more efficient distribution system for art and entertainment, leading to the creation of artics. The company has since moved its base to Palo Alto and is currently testing expansion in a closed community among high schools and universities around Stanford and UC Berkeley.