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Rovio holds Angry Birds lucky draws nationwide in Japan

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When we last chatted with Rovio here in Japan, the Finnish game developer entertainment company told us that they had a number of local partners on board for their Angry Birds business. One of those partners is Furyu, with whom Rovio is now running a fun sort of lucky lottery campaign. In select locations, Angry Birds fans can pay 500 yen (or about $5) to participate in a draw for some AB merch. You’re guaranteed to win at least a small plush toy, but if you’re lucky, you could walk away with very large one, or the top prize, an Angry Birds travel bag. Rovio’s country director for Japan, Antti Sonninen, showed me one of the locations today at Takashimaya department store at Shinjuku. And while this sort of giveaway at a few stores isn’t really that impressive, if you take a look at how widely Rovio and Furyu are conducting this campaign, then the scope becomes a little more impressive. Check out the map of locations below. While I was surprised to see that the in-store promotion is little more than a poster, the campaign is getting far more visibility by through the Angry Birds in-game news page (or…

angry-birds-lucky-draws

When we last chatted with Rovio here in Japan, the Finnish game developer entertainment company told us that they had a number of local partners on board for their Angry Birds business. One of those partners is Furyu, with whom Rovio is now running a fun sort of lucky lottery campaign.

In select locations, Angry Birds fans can pay 500 yen (or about $5) to participate in a draw for some AB merch. You’re guaranteed to win at least a small plush toy, but if you’re lucky, you could walk away with very large one, or the top prize, an Angry Birds travel bag. Rovio’s country director for Japan, Antti Sonninen, showed me one of the locations today at Takashimaya department store at Shinjuku. And while this sort of giveaway at a few stores isn’t really that impressive, if you take a look at how widely Rovio and Furyu are conducting this campaign, then the scope becomes a little more impressive. Check out the map of locations below.

While I was surprised to see that the in-store promotion is little more than a poster, the campaign is getting far more visibility by through the Angry Birds in-game news page (or ‘pause’ page), where’s there’s a link to the the Furyu campaign page. If you’d like to try one of these Angry Birds lucky draws for yourself, head to one of the locations nearest you to give it a go (assuming you’re in Japan).

In addition to this localized promotion, Rovio is planning even bigger things this upcoming weekend, kicking off its weekly series of videos on March 16th and 17th. In addition to being able to watch these short videos inside their app (which is currently free, ostensibly to help increase visibility this weekend), a number of broadcasters are on board to help distribute the animations as well. Here in Asia, that includes JEI TV in Korea, ANTV in Indonesia, and the Cartoon Network in India.

Japanese legal portal Bengo4.com raises $208,000 from Kakaku.com

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Japan’s legal consultation portal site Bengo4.com, owned by Tokyo-based law office Authense, announced on Monday that it has raised about 20 million yen (approximately $208,000) from price comparison site Kakaku.com (TSE:2371). Prior to this fundraising, the portal site raised 100 million yen ($1.04 million) from DG Incubation, the investment arm of Japanese tech conglomerate Digital Garage (TSE:4819). Founded in 2005, Bengo4.com provides legal consultation services from participating lawyers for free, and allows consumers to get estimates from lawyers and compare them. As of March 8th, it has consulted on more than 246,599 cases and acquired 5,688 lawyers. To put that latter figure in perspective, that’s about 17% of Japan’s entire lawyer population. With this new partnership, the legal site expects to explore a sort of service integration with Kakaku.com site and its restaurant recommendation site Tabelog. On its website, Bengo4.com also announced it had partnered with Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689) to provide legal and tax-related Q&A content to Yahoo Chiebukuro, one of Japan’s largest knowledge-sharing community services.

bengo4

Japan’s legal consultation portal site Bengo4.com, owned by Tokyo-based law office Authense, announced on Monday that it has raised about 20 million yen (approximately $208,000) from price comparison site Kakaku.com (TSE:2371). Prior to this fundraising, the portal site raised 100 million yen ($1.04 million) from DG Incubation, the investment arm of Japanese tech conglomerate Digital Garage (TSE:4819).

Founded in 2005, Bengo4.com provides legal consultation services from participating lawyers for free, and allows consumers to get estimates from lawyers and compare them. As of March 8th, it has consulted on more than 246,599 cases and acquired 5,688 lawyers. To put that latter figure in perspective, that’s about 17% of Japan’s entire lawyer population. With this new partnership, the legal site expects to explore a sort of service integration with Kakaku.com site and its restaurant recommendation site Tabelog.

On its website, Bengo4.com also announced it had partnered with Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689) to provide legal and tax-related Q&A content to Yahoo Chiebukuro, one of Japan’s largest knowledge-sharing community services.

On-demand theater service Dreampass acquired by Yahoo Japan

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Japanese startup Bluem, which operates the on-demand cinema service Dreampass, announced today that it has been acquired by Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689) for an undisclosed sum. Dreampass will be working with Yahoo Eiga (or “Yahoo Movies”) and video streaming service Gyao, which is also run by Yahoo Japan. For those of you who might not be familiar with the service, Dreampass first launched all the way back in August of 2010. It sort of works like Groupon but is dedicated to the screening of older movies in theaters. Users are able to request a screening of their favorite movies, and by popular vote, Dreampass will negotiate with content holders to allow such a screening. If the screening is permitted, tickets will be made available on the Dreampass website for users to purchase. A wide variety of movies are requested, ranging from Hollywood classics to Japanese animations and even recorded sports events. For example, there are tickets on sale to watch The Dark Knight at a theater in Shinjuku for 1,500 yen (about $15). Dreampass was chosen as a representative startup for Japan at Startup Weekend 2011, an event held across 50 different countries. The team is a graduate of Open Network…

dreampass-logo

Japanese startup Bluem, which operates the on-demand cinema service Dreampass, announced today that it has been acquired by Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689) for an undisclosed sum. Dreampass will be working with Yahoo Eiga (or “Yahoo Movies”) and video streaming service Gyao, which is also run by Yahoo Japan.

For those of you who might not be familiar with the service, Dreampass first launched all the way back in August of 2010. It sort of works like Groupon but is dedicated to the screening of older movies in theaters. Users are able to request a screening of their favorite movies, and by popular vote, Dreampass will negotiate with content holders to allow such a screening. If the screening is permitted, tickets will be made available on the Dreampass website for users to purchase.

dreampass

A wide variety of movies are requested, ranging from Hollywood classics to Japanese animations and even recorded sports events. For example, there are tickets on sale to watch The Dark Knight at a theater in Shinjuku for 1,500 yen (about $15).

Dreampass was chosen as a representative startup for Japan at Startup Weekend 2011, an event held across 50 different countries. The team is a graduate of Open Network Lab in Ebisu, Tokyo, and consists of six core members who will soon be working for Yahoo Japan.

In the past few years, we’re seeing a startup eco-system gradually taking shape here in Japan. Last year, there were a few startups acquired by local internet giants and a few smaller buyouts as well. I plan to present a round-up of these acquisition in the near future, so stay tuned!

Japanese game developer Aiming raises $3.2M, eyes overseas expansion

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Japanese gaming company Aiming Inc has announced today that it has received almost 300 million yen (or about $3.21 million) in investment from Nissay Capital. The funds will be used to expand its portfolio of games, and make a play for the overseas smartphone and PC games market. To date, most of the company’s titles are for the Japanese market, including the recently launched Lord of War which after its release in late February managed to briefly grab the number one spot in the Japanese app store on March 1st [1]. I confess, I’ve not spent any significant time with any of their games, many of which are Japanese style RPGs, but it is promising to see yet another Japanese gaming company looking to markets abroad, and also finding some funds to drive forward. If you’d like to try out one of its titles in English, you can perhaps get your hands on Lord of Knights: The Conquerors which it seems to have quietly launched last year on the New Zealand app store. The original Japanese version of that title has over 400,000 downloads to date. You can check out a promo video for Lord of Knights below. (Aiming via…

lord-of-war-wide

Japanese gaming company Aiming Inc has announced today that it has received almost 300 million yen (or about $3.21 million) in investment from Nissay Capital. The funds will be used to expand its portfolio of games, and make a play for the overseas smartphone and PC games market.

To date, most of the company’s titles are for the Japanese market, including the recently launched Lord of War which after its release in late February managed to briefly grab the number one spot in the Japanese app store on March 1st [1].

I confess, I’ve not spent any significant time with any of their games, many of which are Japanese style RPGs, but it is promising to see yet another Japanese gaming company looking to markets abroad, and also finding some funds to drive forward.

If you’d like to try out one of its titles in English, you can perhaps get your hands on Lord of Knights: The Conquerors which it seems to have quietly launched last year on the New Zealand app store. The original Japanese version of that title has over 400,000 downloads to date. You can check out a promo video for Lord of Knights below. (Aiming via Gamebiz)


  1. Since then, however, it has dropped off significantly, now really only visible in the ‘simulation’ and ‘role playing’ categories, where it still ranks in the top 50. The Android version of the title is coming soon.  ↩

Tokyo-based advertising startup FreakOut raises $5.3M from Yahoo Japan

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FreakOut is a Tokyo-based startup developing a smartphone advertising platform for real-time bidding (RTB). Today it announced that it has raised 500 million yen (approximately $5.3 million) in series B funding from YJ Capital, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689). FreakOut was launched in 2010 by Yuzuru Honda who previously launched a content-matching ad platform called Brainer, which was subsequently sold to Yahoo Japan in 2008.  The startup has been delivering its white-label platform to more than 3,000 advertisers through 90 agencies in Japan and the US. With this new funding, the startup expects to intensify operations at its US subsidiary, FreakOut International Inc., which was launched in New York last April. Prior to this fundraising, the startup raised 350 million yen ($3.7 million) from two Japanese VC firms last year. TechCrunch Japan reports that the current value of the company is about 10.3 billion yen ($110 million).

freakout_logoFreakOut is a Tokyo-based startup developing a smartphone advertising platform for real-time bidding (RTB). Today it announced that it has raised 500 million yen (approximately $5.3 million) in series B funding from YJ Capital, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689).

FreakOut was launched in 2010 by Yuzuru Honda who previously launched a content-matching ad platform called Brainer, which was subsequently sold to Yahoo Japan in 2008.  The startup has been delivering its white-label platform to more than 3,000 advertisers through 90 agencies in Japan and the US. With this new funding, the startup expects to intensify operations at its US subsidiary, FreakOut International Inc., which was launched in New York last April.

Prior to this fundraising, the startup raised 350 million yen ($3.7 million) from two Japanese VC firms last year. TechCrunch Japan reports that the current value of the company is about 10.3 billion yen ($110 million).

Monetizing Android ads for Asia (and soon the world) Metaps raises $11M in series B

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Read the Japanese version of this report Japanese app monetization platform Metaps has announced today that it has raised 1 billion yen (or about $11 million) in series B funding from Fidelity Growth Partners. The company plans to use these funds to continue its expansion in Asia, and then beyond later this year. Metaps claims to be the largest such mobile ad network in Asia, and has the lofty goal of becoming the largest Android monetization platform in the world by the end of this year. Metaps originally launched in 2011, and since then Android apps using its platform have achieved a total of 62 million downloads by focusing on mature Asian markets like Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The company will continue to focus on Asia until this summer, after that looking to North America, followed by the European market in the fall. Interestingly, Fidelity Growth Partners has much experience in China, and a Metaps representative tells us that this is one reason why they will partner with them. Metaps is also in talks with some local Chinese firms as well. We’re told that Metaps’ success thus far is largely due to strong results for Android games, which…

metaps

Read the Japanese version of this report

Japanese app monetization platform Metaps has announced today that it has raised 1 billion yen (or about $11 million) in series B funding from Fidelity Growth Partners.

The company plans to use these funds to continue its expansion in Asia, and then beyond later this year. Metaps claims to be the largest such mobile ad network in Asia, and has the lofty goal of becoming the largest Android monetization platform in the world by the end of this year.

Metaps originally launched in 2011, and since then Android apps using its platform have achieved a total of 62 million downloads by focusing on mature Asian markets like Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The company will continue to focus on Asia until this summer, after that looking to North America, followed by the European market in the fall.

Interestingly, Fidelity Growth Partners has much experience in China, and a Metaps representative tells us that this is one reason why they will partner with them. Metaps is also in talks with some local Chinese firms as well.

We’re told that Metaps’ success thus far is largely due to strong results for Android games, which comprises about 70% of the company’s revenue. But that share is gradually decreasing as other non-gaming apps are beginning to monetize better.

Japan’s ringtone publisher Dwango partners with pair of media giants

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[Update] The group has announced that UK-based play performance group Whole Hog Theatre will conduct a Japan tour of Princess Mononoke in April and May in partnership with the Studio Ghibli animation studio. Dwango’s CEO is currently working at the studio as a ‘trainee’ to explore a possible collaboration. Dwango, a Tokyo-based ringtone distributor and the parent company of Japanese video sharing service Nico Nico Douga, announced today that Japanese publishing giant Kadokawa Group and Nippon Television Network would take a major stake of its shares. The company’s largest shareholder prior to this announcement, music company Avex Group, will now be the third largest shareholder. Dwango has been partnered with Avex for seven years, but it has been exploring other partnerships in different businesses to diversify its service portfolio. Kagokawa also recently acquired Skyscraper Inc. from Dwango, a company which primarily handles ads for the Nico Nico Douga video service. A group of ten companies [1] including Dwango and Nippon TV Network will unveil a major joint project of some kind on Tuesday afternoon. The press briefing will be broadcast live on the web on Nico Nico Douga starting at 2pm Tuesday, Japan Time. The ten companies are Dwango, Nippon…

[Update] The group has announced that UK-based play performance group Whole Hog Theatre will conduct a Japan tour of Princess Mononoke in April and May in partnership with the Studio Ghibli animation studio. Dwango’s CEO is currently working at the studio as a ‘trainee’ to explore a possible collaboration.


dwango

Dwango, a Tokyo-based ringtone distributor and the parent company of Japanese video sharing service Nico Nico Douga, announced today that Japanese publishing giant Kadokawa Group and Nippon Television Network would take a major stake of its shares. The company’s largest shareholder prior to this announcement, music company Avex Group, will now be the third largest shareholder.

Dwango has been partnered with Avex for seven years, but it has been exploring other partnerships in different businesses to diversify its service portfolio. Kagokawa also recently acquired Skyscraper Inc. from Dwango, a company which primarily handles ads for the Nico Nico Douga video service.

A group of ten companies [1] including Dwango and Nippon TV Network will unveil a major joint project of some kind on Tuesday afternoon. The press briefing will be broadcast live on the web on Nico Nico Douga starting at 2pm Tuesday, Japan Time.


  1. The ten companies are Dwango, Nippon TV Network, Nelke Planning (musical production), the Yomiuri Shimbun (newspaper), Tokyo FM, Lawson (a convenience store), E-plus (an online ticketing service), Dentsu, Aiia (an apparel and puzzle game publisher), and BS Nippon (a satellite broadcaster).  ↩

Incubate Fund forms new $21.4M fund, plans to invest in 100 startups in 3 years

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Tokyo-based VC Incubate Fund recently announced that it had established a new 2 billion yen fund (about $21.4 million), with the aim of investing in seed startups and young venture capitalists. Specifically, the firm expects to invest in 100 startups within the next three years. To establish the fund, the firm fundraised from Infocom Corporation (the publisher of a bilingual news blog on Japan-made Android apps), Sega, SME Support, D2C (a joint venture of Dentsu and NTT Docomo), Nissay Capital (an investment arm of Japan’s second largest life insurance company), Mixi, and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital. Until now, the firm has been known for investing in a number of notable Japanese startups including game companies Gumi, Pokelabo, Aiming, and Axel Mark; as well as San San, who runs a business card-based CRM solution. In the past several months, the firm has been expanding its scope beyond gaming startups, investing in seed and early startups like Coffee Meeting (people-to-people matchmaking on a chat over coffee), Storys.jp, Designclue, Voip, and Booklap.

incubatefund_logoTokyo-based VC Incubate Fund recently announced that it had established a new 2 billion yen fund (about $21.4 million), with the aim of investing in seed startups and young venture capitalists. Specifically, the firm expects to invest in 100 startups within the next three years.

To establish the fund, the firm fundraised from Infocom Corporation (the publisher of a bilingual news blog on Japan-made Android apps), Sega, SME Support, D2C (a joint venture of Dentsu and NTT Docomo), Nissay Capital (an investment arm of Japan’s second largest life insurance company), Mixi, and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital.

Until now, the firm has been known for investing in a number of notable Japanese startups including game companies Gumi, Pokelabo, Aiming, and Axel Mark; as well as San San, who runs a business card-based CRM solution. In the past several months, the firm has been expanding its scope beyond gaming startups, investing in seed and early startups like Coffee Meeting (people-to-people matchmaking on a chat over coffee), Storys.jp, Designclue, Voip, and Booklap.