Japan’s keyword linking tech developer Studio Ousia raises $1M for new app

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See the original story in Japanese.

Japan’s Studio Ousia, a startup developing keyword mining and linking solutions, announced Tuesday that it has fundraised 100 million yen ($1 million) from Tokyo-based system integration company NID (TSE:2349). According to NID, the investor has taken a 33.5% stake in Studio Ousia. Studio Ousia will use the funds to strengthen the development of new apps based on the Entity Linking technology.

Studio Ousia is an standout graduate from Keio University SFC’s incubation program. In 2012, the company launched a smartphone browser add-on product called Phroni, and funraised 70 million yen (about $864,000) from Nissay Capital.

Studio Ousia’s product portfolio includes Linkify, a keyword linking SDK (software developers kit) for mobile developers, as well as LinkPlaza, an affiliate solution for bloggers launched last year.

It’s unclear as to what kind of app they will release as a result of their further development efforts, but we understand that they will emphasize apps development for the advertising sector as well as user real-world connection.

For example, these include an app which displays an online reference on the smartglass screen by recognizing what are being looked at through a smartglass device. With the improvement in smart devices, people now want many alternative user interfaces beyond the keyboard. So the company sees a huge potential market out there.