Startup Team Fukuoka goes to events around the world, seeking out talented entrepreneurs with solid visions. While in Taiwan in November of 2018, we met members of the QueQ team who were visiting from Thailand. Both teams knew the QueQ app would be a fantastic match for the Japanese market, and not long after a Fukuoka branch was formed. We spoke with Jay Oungprasertporn, from QueQ’s Overseas Business Development department about the app and the move to Fukuoka.

Skipping the Frustration

In 2014 QueQ’s founder, Rungsun Promprasith, found himself annoyed by all of the time he was wasting just waiting in line. It's a common issue and one that needed a solution. Only one year later, he had the first version of the app ready to go. His vision was simple – "Spend your time wisely," and the app allows users to do just that.

Creating Opportunities

In the beginning, QueQ caught the attention of Shabushi, a popular hotpot restaurant in Thailand with many locations. This sparked interest from many more stores looking for a better way to control the flow of customers. Using QueQ, shop owners can set parameters such as how far away someone can be (generally it's 2km) before they can join the queue. Then, when that person should come into the restaurant, the app alerts them. QueQ is also being utilized by other establishments with long wait times, including hospitals.

Moving to Fukuoka

QueQ had always intended to branch out into the Japanese market, an interest that was sparked by a yakiniku shop in Thailand. The QueQ team noticed their app was very popular with Japanese customers visiting that yakiniku shop. Jay explained, “Queueing up is the respectful thing to do, but it isn’t a good use of people’s time. We want to give them their time back. ”With the popularity of many Japanese restaurants and shops comes famously long queues and extensive wait times. QueQ can help to eliminate that issue.

With the help of the Global Startup Center, Jay said getting the new startup visa in April 2019 and opening a Fukuoka branch was simple. “Everyone here is connected,” he shared. In fact, through Startup Café’s matching program, QueQ was able to find their first local employee quite quickly, allowing them to begin the process of localizing their app.

Lines are a thing of the past

QueQ’s Fukuoka team is currently focusing on creating packages for businesses who want to use their app. They plan to implement the Fukuoka version within about a month of this article’s publication date. Check the app store (it’s available on iOS and Android) to try out QueQ for yourself.