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Tokyo-based social network service Storys.jp raises another $300,000

Masaru Ikeda 2013.04.11

Tokyo-based startup ResuPress Inc., the company behind the social network service Storys.jp, announced today that it has raised 30 million yen (approximately $300,000) from Incubate Fund and the Anri startup fund. The new funding will be used to improve the service and intensify marketing efforts.

For those not familiar with the service, Storys.jp helps you easily write information about your background and experience by connecting to Facebook and pulling from your history. Some of our readers may recall that we recently featured the startup and how it intends to differentiate from conventional social network services.

The service was founded last year by ex-JP Morgan employee James Riney and TIT student Koichiro Wada, with an initial investment of 30 million yen from Incubate Fund, the Anri fund, and Hong Kong-based angel investor Teddy Lo.

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Growing well in Southeast Asia, Nijibox launches ‘JKT48 Card Battle’ in Indonesia

Rick Martin 2013.04.11

Following up on its Fantasia games series, Japanese game publisher Nijibox launched a new card battle game on the Southeast Asian feature phone games platform this week. It’s called JKT48 Card Battle. The title is free to play, featuring the pop idol group JKT48, the Indonesian sister group for the popular AKB48 supergroup from Japan. Many of our readers are no doubt are aware that AKB48 has its own card battle game, so it’s perhaps inevitable that this mobile social game concept be adapted for Indonesian consumers as well. Available in both English and Indonesian, the game is first released for Indonesian carrier Indosat, and after July 7th it will be available on all carriers. The game features a rock-paper-scissors competition where you can win new cards and compete against other players. You can also train and merge your cards to create a stronger collection, accumulating as many of the 180 JKT48 member cards as you can. A Nijibox representative tells me today that the company is doing very well on the Kotagames platform so far, so much so that they are currently focusing their global resources on the Southeast Asia region. While they can’t disclose specific user numbers, I’m…

The title is free to play, featuring the pop idol group JKT48, the Indonesian sister group for the popular AKB48 supergroup from Japan. Many of our readers are no doubt are aware that AKB48 has its own card battle game, so it’s perhaps inevitable that this mobile social game concept be adapted for Indonesian consumers as well.

Available in both English and Indonesian, the game is first released for Indonesian carrier Indosat, and after July 7th it will be available on all carriers. The game features a rock-paper-scissors competition where you can win new cards and compete against other players. You can also train and merge your cards to create a stronger collection, accumulating as many of the 180 JKT48 member cards as you can.

A Nijibox representative tells me today that the company is doing very well on the Kotagames platform so far, so much so that they are currently focusing their global resources on the Southeast Asia region. While they can’t disclose specific user numbers, I’m told that the figures are well into the hundreds of thousands. This regional games market is growing rapidly and they think that Nijibox has an advantage.

Currently the Kotagames platform has over 2.5 million gamers, primarily across the Southeast Asia region.

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Watch out WeChat! Japan’s Line becomes the top social app in China

Rick Martin 2013.04.10

Japanese chat application Line pulled off a pretty impressive feat this week, achieving the top spot in Apple’s Chinese App Store in the social networking category on April 8. This is especially interesting because so far in Asia, each of the big chat app players Line (Japan), Kakaotalk (Korea), and Weixin/WeChat (China) have each dominated on their home turf. For Line to become the top social networking app in China, having only launched back on December 12, is a significant achievement. According to a China Daily report, it was helped along initially by being introduced via Qihoo 360’s Mobile Assistant. After becoming the top social app on Monday, it has since dropped to number two. But the app is still rising in the overall ‘free app’ rankings (currently ranked 7th), and I wouldn’t be surprised if it reaches number one overall in the next few days. Line is branded as ‘Lian wo ’ or ‘Link Me’ in China, with apps available on iOS, Android, and PC. Given the fact that some individuals in China can be hostile towards Japanese brands, it’s encouraging to see a made-in-Japan service getting some love in the country. Weixin is, of course, still China’s dominant…

Japanese chat application Line pulled off a pretty impressive feat this week, achieving the top spot in Apple’s Chinese App Store in the social networking category on April 8.

This is especially interesting because so far in Asia, each of the big chat app players Line (Japan), Kakaotalk (Korea), and Weixin/WeChat (China) have each dominated on their home turf. For Line to become the top social networking app in China, having only launched back on December 12, is a significant achievement.

According to a China Daily report, it was helped along initially by being introduced via Qihoo 360’s Mobile Assistant. After becoming the top social app on Monday, it has since dropped to number two. But the app is still rising in the overall ‘free app’ rankings (currently ranked 7th), and I wouldn’t be surprised if it reaches number one overall in the next few days.

china-daily-line-social-networking — Photo: China Daily

Line is branded as ‘Lian wo ’ or ‘Link Me’ in China, with apps available on iOS, Android, and PC. Given the fact that some individuals in China can be hostile towards Japanese brands, it’s encouraging to see a made-in-Japan service getting some love in the country. Weixin is, of course, still China’s dominant chat app in terms of overall downloads.

On a related note, Korea’s Kakaotalk has recently made a little progress in Japan, announcing last week that it has surpassed the 10 million downloads milestone, although it’s still a distant second to Line’s 45 million.

Weixin, while dominant in China, has a tougher challenge on its hands in achieving success among non-Chinese users.

For more information on the growth of Line, please check out our interactive Line Timeline which chronicles its growth from its launch back in 2011 up until the present day.

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Japanese online dating site Qrunch raises funds from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital

Masaru Ikeda 2013.04.10

Tokyo-based startup Qrunch, the company behind online dating site MatchAlarm, announced today it has raised an unspecified amount of funds from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital. The dating site targets single people looking to marry, and helps you connect with a likely match who you aren’t connected with on Facebook. The service is well-suited for busy office workers who might be otherwise occupied from morning until night, left with little time to date. With this service, users are sent the profile of another member every day at 8am, much like your alarm clock wakes you up every morning. This makes it pretty easy to use the service, because typical Japanese office workers will check messages on their smartphone at that time during their morning train commute. The service is not yet public, but it was chosen as one of seven finalists at Startups 2011 Spring, a semi-annual startup competition run by CyberAgent Ventures. At that time it was pitching the concept of being a Q&A service. The startup was incorporated last September, subsequently raised funds from CyberAgent Ventures, and then changed its strategy to this matchmaking service which will likely be easier to monetize. On a related note, Tokyo-based startup Frigg…

Tokyo-based startup Qrunch, the company behind online dating site MatchAlarm, announced today it has raised an unspecified amount of funds from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital.

The dating site targets single people looking to marry, and helps you connect with a likely match who you aren’t connected with on Facebook.

The service is well-suited for busy office workers who might be otherwise occupied from morning until night, left with little time to date. With this service, users are sent the profile of another member every day at 8am, much like your alarm clock wakes you up every morning. This makes it pretty easy to use the service, because typical Japanese office workers will check messages on their smartphone at that time during their morning train commute.

The service is not yet public, but it was chosen as one of seven finalists at Startups 2011 Spring, a semi-annual startup competition run by CyberAgent Ventures. At that time it was pitching the concept of being a Q&A service.

The startup was incorporated last September, subsequently raised funds from CyberAgent Ventures, and then changed its strategy to this matchmaking service which will likely be easier to monetize.

On a related note, Tokyo-based startup Frigg (backed by IMJ Investment Partners) has been providing similar matchmaking services since last April. It has acquired more than 2,000 registered users in seven months since launch. Interestingly they are disclosing the demographics of their user base in terms of gender balance, age, geography, academic background, annual income, occupation, and whether or not they were previously married.

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On My Mobile: Tokyo Otaku Mode’s Nao Kodaka

Rick Martin 2013.04.10

This is part of our ‘On My Mobile’ series (RSS), a modest attempt to better understand how folks in Japan use their smartphones. Few Japanese startups are creating the sort of buzz that Tokyo Otaku Mode has in the past year. Now with over 11 million fans on its Facebook page, the company’s mission is to promote Japanese subculture abroad, and hopefully make a profit in the process. Back in February we spoke with TOM’s co-founder Nao Kodaka to learn more about his company. But recently I thought it would also be interesting to ask Nao to participate in our ‘On My Mobile’ series, and check out what kind of Android apps he’s using these days (see below). Not surprisingly, Tokyo Otaku Mode’s own Otaku Camera app is on Nao’s homescreen, as he uses it a lot with family. He also enjoys the World Conqueror 2 simulation game, which he says he uses a lot during his commute. Google Drive is also among his favorite apps, allowing him to do work from practically anywhere. If you’d like to find out more about the Android apps that Nao enjoys these days, you can browse the interactive graphic of his homescreen below…

This is part of our ‘On My Mobile’ series (RSS), a modest attempt to better understand how folks in Japan use their smartphones.

Few Japanese startups are creating the sort of buzz that Tokyo Otaku Mode has in the past year. Now with over 11 million fans on its Facebook page, the company’s mission is to promote Japanese subculture abroad, and hopefully make a profit in the process.

Back in February we spoke with TOM’s co-founder Nao Kodaka to learn more about his company. But recently I thought it would also be interesting to ask Nao to participate in our ‘On My Mobile’ series, and check out what kind of Android apps he’s using these days (see below).

Not surprisingly, Tokyo Otaku Mode’s own Otaku Camera app is on Nao’s homescreen, as he uses it a lot with family. He also enjoys the World Conqueror 2 simulation game, which he says he uses a lot during his commute. Google Drive is also among his favorite apps, allowing him to do work from practically anywhere.

If you’d like to find out more about the Android apps that Nao enjoys these days, you can browse the interactive graphic of his homescreen below and click through to the apps on Google Play.

Tokyo-based social network service Storys.jp raises another $300,000

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