Japanese Entrepreneur and Investors Target US Housing With Innovation

The US housing crisis is attracting overseas interest in both new design and investment. Entrepreneurs hope to inject new process and ideals into housing that can be a successful business model into the future.

Not every Japanese entrepreneur manages to launch a startup in Silicon Valley, and odds are even lower if that person wants to take on the challenge of the U.S. housing market.

But this is an adventure that Takeshi Homma has embarked on with his company, Homma Inc.

“Efficiency and industrialization have been neglected in the U.S. homebuilding industry, I want to change that,” Homma, the CEO and founder of the company, said in a recent interview.

Homma, a former Rakuten Inc. executive, said the U.S. housing market has yet to go through an innovation phase, so he plans to provide middle- to high-end houses that are built more efficiently and feature the know-how and quality products of Japanese housing firms.

He also said that as the U.S. housing market is expected to grow in line with an increase in the American population, Homma’s venture will give those Japanese companies a chance enter a new market.