Have you ever found an attractive product on an overseas e-commerce site, only to be disappointed by the words "Does not ship to Japan"? Language barriers, complicated customs clearance, unclear shipping costs and tariffs... SAZO Inc. is a company that solves all these "hassles" of cross-border e-commerce with a single click using AI.

With the "trust" gained from the support of the ICT Startup League, the company successfully secured a large-scale funding of over 700 million yen.

However, founder Maro Gil is looking far beyond that. "An era where AI becomes the entrepreneur," "humanity's last chance" — we delve into the grand vision of this brilliant mind who once won the Math Olympiad, and the full story of the League's support behind his success.

Eliminating "Hassle" with AI. Get Overseas Products in a Single Click.

First of all, what kind of service is SAZO?

Maro Gil: Yes. Our service is a cross-border e-commerce service that uses AI to make it incredibly easy to buy things from overseas. When you try to buy something from abroad, there are "physical barriers," like they won't ship to Japan, and "relative barriers," like not understanding the language or not being able to make a payment. SAZO is a service designed to completely remove all of those barriers.
It's very simple to use. The user just copies and pastes the URL of a product they found on an overseas site. Then, our AI instantly translates the product information and gives you a price in Japanese Yen that includes everything—tariffs, shipping, all of it. After that, you just enter your address and pay with a Japanese payment method, just like on a regular Japanese e-commerce site. It's that simple.

How is it different from a typical package forwarding service?

Maro Gil: Our strength lies in solving the problem from both the software and hardware sides. On the software side, as I mentioned, we have automatic calculation of shipping and tariffs, and the AI automatically creates the customs documents. There's absolutely no need for the user to do any troublesome calculations or data entry.
Furthermore, we handle the hardware, the physical logistics centers, ourselves. When products arrive at our overseas facilities, a team of humans and image-recognition AI inspects each one. If a different product from the one ordered arrives, we take responsibility and handle it at that point. So the user can just wait with peace of mind. This commitment to handling everything up to **"inspection and guarantee"** is the major difference from a simple forwarding service. Thanks to AI, we're able to offer this comprehensive service while keeping costs down.

"In 30 Years, the Entrepreneur Will Be an AI" — A Challenge with an Eye on That Future

I hear your own personal experience was the catalyst for this service.

Maro Gil: That's right. I've always liked math and chemistry, and as a student, I participated in Olympiads and world programming competitions. I came to Japan for university, and my hobby was collecting American audio devices, but importing them personally was truly inconvenient... I was always thinking, "Why is this so much trouble?" I also had knowledge of AI, so the idea of "Can I solve this with technology?" was the beginning. At first, I developed the service on my own, and when I felt confident that it could work, I started the company.

And you're looking even further into the future, I hear.

Maro Gil: Yes. I believe that entrepreneurship will no longer exist in 20 to 30 years.

What? Entrepreneurs will disappear?

Maro Gil: Yes. Innovation is a new "combination" of existing technologies and ideas, right? Right now, humans think of these combinations, but eventually, AI will take over that role. If the human brain can do it, there's no reason AI can't.
That's why our challenge isn't intended to end as a simple e-commerce service. In five years, the interface for shopping won't be a website or an app; it will be an "agent." You'll just have to say, "Buy me that thing from Korea," and the AI agent will handle everything. However, the "logistics" hardware part behind the scenes—actually moving the goods and getting them through customs—cannot be done by a general-purpose AI.
We are now preparing to become the player on that "backend." We will have logistics hubs all over the world and build a customs and delivery network streamlined by AI and robotics. In the future, no matter what AI agent is at the forefront, SAZO will be the only execution unit for overseas purchasing. We are providing our service in the form of an app now to build that world.

Behind the 700 Million Yen Fundraising: The "Trust" and "Acceleration" Brought by the ICT Startup League

What was the reason you joined the ICT Startup League, and what did you hope to gain?

Maro Gil: At the briefing session, I heard the concept of "creating a league like in sports" and found it very interesting. It wasn't just another pitch event; it was a place where startups could cooperate and even approach major issues like regulations. Our business is in the specialized area of customs and tariffs, so I joined with high expectations for that kind of support.

You succeeded in a large-scale fundraising of over 700 million yen. How did the League's support specifically contribute to that?

Maro Gil: It was beneficial in every aspect. There were four points that were especially significant.
First was "credibility." Since we are a B2C service and our representative is a foreigner, we were often seen as a "service that's hard to understand" at first. However, the fact that we were selected for the ICT Startup League, a project by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, made a huge difference in the level of trust from customers, business partners, and especially bank-affiliated investors.
Second was the "acceleration of fundraising." During our fundraising period, we received concrete advice from mentors on how to approach investors and on market conditions, which allowed us to move forward without hesitation. Without the League's support, it would have taken much longer, and the amount raised and the terms would not have been so favorable.
Third was "business partnerships and recruitment." Increased media exposure through the League improved our visibility. As a result, we secured a partnership with a major Japanese e-commerce company, and the response rate when we sent scout messages to candidates in our recruitment efforts increased dramatically.
Finally, "networking with other selected companies." Talking about server costs with other companies working on AI, or hearing behind-the-scenes stories from a senior entrepreneur who had raised funds overseas—the information gained from these peer connections was extremely valuable.

Taking on the Largest Domain at Humanity's Last Chance

Finally, please tell us about your future prospects.

Maro Gil: In the short term, we will expand the countries our service covers. We plan to start exporting from Japan within this year, and next year, expand globally beyond just Japan and Korea. After that, we will acquire overseas logistics companies through M&A and introduce our AI and robotics technology to expand SAZO's network worldwide. By 2035, we aim to create a state where you can buy any product from any country from anywhere in the world through SAZO. At that time, the interface may be an AI agent, but we want to be the ones managing the backend.
I didn't graduate from university to fully commit to this challenge. People around me said, "It's not the right time," but I feel that this AI revolution is on a different level from past technological revolutions like the dot-com bubble; it might be the last, unrepeatable chance in human history.
In the midst of such a great wave of change, we are tackling the largest domain related to the fundamental human desire of "purchasing." If there's anyone who resonates with this grand challenge and wants to build the future together, I would love to talk to them.