News

Equmenopolis Inc., a startup founded on research findings from Waseda University by Yoichi Matsuyama, Guest Researcher (Guest Associate Professor) at the Perceptual Computing Laboratory, Waseda University Green Computing Systems Research Organization, entered into a partnership agreement on January 9, 2026, with the EIKEN Foundation of Japan for a joint research initiative aimed at promoting AI-driven English education.

This collaboration seeks to extend the evaluation standards of EIKEN®, a cornerstone of Japan’s English education infrastructure, from traditional test venues to everyday learning environments through the application of AI technologies. It represents a new model for educational digital transformation (DX), enabling learners’ efforts to be accumulated and recognized as official digital credentials.

Significance of the Partnership

Expansion of the Evaluation Landscape through the Collaboration of Japan’s Leading Testing Organization and a University-Born Deep Tech Startup

The EIKEN Foundation of Japan, with a history spanning more than 60 years, selected Equmenopolis—whose roots lie in long-standing conversational AI research cultivated at Waseda University—as its partner for this joint research initiative. By leveraging Equmenopolis’s multimodal AI technologies, including speech and facial expression analysis, to faithfully replicate EIKEN’s rigorous evaluation standards, a technological foundation has been established to extend “official assessment,” previously confined to test venues, into learners’ everyday environments.

Industry-First Official Partnership to Transform the Learning Process into a Recognized “Asset”

LANGX® will become the first external application to be integrated with the EIKEN Foundation’s Lifelong Learning Platform. Through this integration, the results of AI-based mock interviews conducted during daily study—such as estimated EIKEN CSE scores and proficiency level benchmarks—will be accumulated as official EIKEN digital certificates. This initiative embodies educational digital transformation (DX) by enabling not only test results, but the learning process itself, to be formally recognized and accumulated as a valuable asset that can be utilized for academic advancement, employment, and other purposes.

Democratization of Educational Infrastructure through AI

By providing a realistic mock examination environment on LANGX® that closely mirrors the actual EIKEN test, this partnership creates equitable learning opportunities that are not constrained by geographic location or economic circumstances. It represents a significant step toward addressing social challenges by delivering “EIKEN-quality educational infrastructure” into the everyday lives of all learners, rather than limiting access to select environments.

This initiative is expected to serve as a pioneering example of open innovation, in which technology originating from Waseda University collaborates with a national brand to lead meaningful social transformation.

For further details, please refer to Equmenopolis’s press release (Japanese only):
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000013.000101029.html

Company Overview

Yoichi Matsuyama, President and CEO, Equmenopolis, Inc.

Company Name: Equmenopolis, Inc.
Business Description: Development of a conversational AI agent platform and its applications
Date of Establishment: May 2, 2022
Head Office (Operational Office): Room 301, Green Computing Systems Research Center, Waseda University
27 Waseda-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0042, Japan
(*Please send all mail correspondence to this address.)
Registered Head Office Address: 1-22-3 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Representative Director: Yoichi Matsuyama (Guest Researcher (Guest Associate Professor), Perceptual Computing Laboratory, Waseda University Green Computing Systems Research Organization)

Website: https://www.equ.ai/en
Contact: https://www.equ.ai/en/contact