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Japan’s Metaps files for IPO

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See the original story in Japanese. Metaps, the Japanese company offering a variety of IT services ranging from app monetization platform for mobile developers to commission-free payments solutions, had earlier submitted an IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which was approved today. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on 28 August with plans to offer 1,152,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 273,000 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 1,578,000 shares. The underwriting will be led by SMBC Nikko Securities. Its share price range will be released on 12 August, with bookbuilding scheduled to start on 20 August. According to the consolidated statement as of August 2014, they posted a revenue of 2.27 billion yen ($18.3 million) and an ordinary loss of 510 million yen ($4.1 million). Major shareholders include the company’s founder Katsuaki Sato (39.4%), the company’s own fund Japan Ventures I L.P. (18.2%) and Intec IT Capital (5.7%), among others. Metaps was founded under the former name of E-factor in September 2007 by Waseda University student Sato. He subsequently dropped out to focus on the Tokyo-based company, which in 2011 launched app monetization platform Metaps. His company soon after adopted this platform brand as the official corporate name. This was soon followed by securing series A round funding of 440…

metaps

See the original story in Japanese.

Metaps, the Japanese company offering a variety of IT services ranging from app monetization platform for mobile developers to commission-free payments solutions, had earlier submitted an IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which was approved today.

The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on 28 August with plans to offer 1,152,000 shares for public subscription and to sell 273,000 shares in over-allotment options for a total of 1,578,000 shares. The underwriting will be led by SMBC Nikko Securities.

Its share price range will be released on 12 August, with bookbuilding scheduled to start on 20 August. According to the consolidated statement as of August 2014, they posted a revenue of 2.27 billion yen ($18.3 million) and an ordinary loss of 510 million yen ($4.1 million).

Major shareholders include the company’s founder Katsuaki Sato (39.4%), the company’s own fund Japan Ventures I L.P. (18.2%) and Intec IT Capital (5.7%), among others.

Metaps was founded under the former name of E-factor in September 2007 by Waseda University student Sato. He subsequently dropped out to focus on the Tokyo-based company, which in 2011 launched app monetization platform Metaps. His company soon after adopted this platform brand as the official corporate name. This was soon followed by securing series A round funding of 440 million yen including 330 million yen from Ngi Group (now known as United); in March 2013 series B round funding of about 1 billion yen from Fidelity Growth Partners Japan and other investors was realized.

Coinciding with its series C round funding of 4.3 billion yen this February Metaps announced that Heizo Takenaka, a former Japanese minister of state, joined the company’s advisory board.

See also:

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japan’s Metaps ties up with Yukai Engineering to help robotics companies make money

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Metaps, the startup best known for an app monetization platform using artificial intelligence, partnered with Japanese robotics and hardware startup Yukai Engineering towards launching a monetization platform for robotics startups. The new platform is called Metaps Robotics and willed be launched after this summer. See also: Japan’s Metaps secures $35.7M series C round to strengthen big data business Yukai Engineering pushes the limits of Japanese hardware creativity Yukai Engineering has developed social communications robots such as Coconatch and Bocco, having extensive experiences in developing products utilizing internet and sensors. Joining forces, the two companies will try to establish a new business model leveraging the cloud, sensor, hardware technologies and apps to help drive the development of the robotics industry. CEO Katsuaki Sato explained how Metaps will monetize the new platform: We plan to monetize the new platform with advertising, setting up a scheme where developers and we will share revenue. In addition to smartphones, homes and cars will also deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. So the role of advertising will be also changed. Translated by Masaru Ikeda Edited by Kurt Hanson Proofread by “Tex” Pomeroy

metaps-robotics_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Metaps, the startup best known for an app monetization platform using artificial intelligence, partnered with Japanese robotics and hardware startup Yukai Engineering towards launching a monetization platform for robotics startups. The new platform is called Metaps Robotics and willed be launched after this summer.

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Yukai Engineering has developed social communications robots such as Coconatch and Bocco, having extensive experiences in developing products utilizing internet and sensors. Joining forces, the two companies will try to establish a new business model leveraging the cloud, sensor, hardware technologies and apps to help drive the development of the robotics industry.

CEO Katsuaki Sato explained how Metaps will monetize the new platform:

We plan to monetize the new platform with advertising, setting up a scheme where developers and we will share revenue. In addition to smartphones, homes and cars will also deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. So the role of advertising will be also changed.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by Kurt Hanson
Proofread by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japan’s Metaps secures $35.7M series C round to strengthen big data business

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This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese. As some Japanese news media reported earlier this morning, Tokyo-based Metaps, the company that provides an app monetization platform using artificial intelligence, will announce today that it has fundraised 4.3 billion yen ($35.7 million) in series C round from several businesses and  VC firms from Japan and the US. Details of investors are yet to be disclosed until later on when the company will announce joint venture launches in partnership with these investors. Coinciding with this funding, Metaps announced that Heizo Takenaka, the former Japanese minister of state, has joined the advisory board of the company. Metaps was founded under the former name of E-factor in September 2007 by Katsuaki Sato. Born in 1986, he attended Tokyo’s Waseda University but subsequently dropped out to establish the company, which in 2011 launched app monetization platform Metaps. This was soon followed by securing series A round funding of 440 million yen including 330 million yen from Ngi Group (now known as United); in March 2013 series B round funding of about 1 billion yen from Fidelity Growth Partners Japan and other investors was realized. Headquartered in Tokyo, they started global business expansion in 2011, opening regional offices in Singapore, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, and Shanghai. Foreign…

metaps

This is the abridged version from our original article in Japanese.

As some Japanese news media reported earlier this morning, Tokyo-based Metaps, the company that provides an app monetization platform using artificial intelligence, will announce today that it has fundraised 4.3 billion yen ($35.7 million) in series C round from several businesses and  VC firms from Japan and the US. Details of investors are yet to be disclosed until later on when the company will announce joint venture launches in partnership with these investors.

Coinciding with this funding, Metaps announced that Heizo Takenaka, the former Japanese minister of state, has joined the advisory board of the company.

Metaps was founded under the former name of E-factor in September 2007 by Katsuaki Sato. Born in 1986, he attended Tokyo’s Waseda University but subsequently dropped out to establish the company, which in 2011 launched app monetization platform Metaps. This was soon followed by securing series A round funding of 440 million yen including 330 million yen from Ngi Group (now known as United); in March 2013 series B round funding of about 1 billion yen from Fidelity Growth Partners Japan and other investors was realized.

Headquartered in Tokyo, they started global business expansion in 2011, opening regional offices in Singapore, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, and Shanghai. Foreign sales from these markets outside Japan accounts for about 70% of corporate income.

In view of app monetization platforms, they have been often cited with other startups such as Japanese ad technology developer FreakOut. To date, apps adopting Metaps’ monetization platform have surpassed over 1.2 billion downloads globally.

Metaps launched a freemium payments platform ‘Spike’ in April 2014, and has acquired 40,000 merchants in seven months since then (or 50,000 merchants in ten months to date). Recently, the company has teamed up with Space Shift on big data analytic systems in relation to ultra-micro satellites.

Metaps says that the funds will be used for hiring people and R&D on big data analysis solutions as applied to wearable devices and automobiles. The company has been collecting usage information of mobile app users via the app monetization platform, but aims to acquire that from 800 million people – five times of the current accumulation – by expanding beyond to aforementioned new areas.

In view of large pre-IPO funding rounds in Japan, this Metaps funding is the second largest following that of Gumi which raised 5 billion yen (about $50 million) back in July.

See also

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japan’s Metaps and Space Shift team up for big data business from space

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This is the abridged version of our original article in Japanese. Tokyo-based Metaps, the company that provides an app monetization platform using artificial intelligence, announced today that it has teamed up with Space Shift to start a joint study on big data analytic systems in relation to ultra-micro satellites. Both companies aim to develop life supporting services based on the joint study’s results. Space Shift develops space ventures via micro satellites, and CEO Naruo Kanemoto is serving Silicon Valley-based space funeral startup Elysium Space’s business development. Topical issues in the big data business sector include Google’s acquisition of Nest, which will collect household temperature variation data via a smart thermostat device. Google also acquired satellite startup Skybox Imaging in June. One investor told The Bridge that he is interested in the sector because satellites have been miniaturized and simplified to the point that even startups can get involved in satellite development. The space funeral service that Metaps will provide with Space Shift will employ a satellite weighing less than 100 kilograms (220 lb.). What will happen with this initiative? Regarding the Nest acquisition, it can be adopted into an energy related business if it can predict fuel consumption based on…

Image credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video via FindCC
Image credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video via FindCC

This is the abridged version of our original article in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Metaps, the company that provides an app monetization platform using artificial intelligence, announced today that it has teamed up with Space Shift to start a joint study on big data analytic systems in relation to ultra-micro satellites. Both companies aim to develop life supporting services based on the joint study’s results.

Space Shift develops space ventures via micro satellites, and CEO Naruo Kanemoto is serving Silicon Valley-based space funeral startup Elysium Space’s business development.

Topical issues in the big data business sector include Google’s acquisition of Nest, which will collect household temperature variation data via a smart thermostat device. Google also acquired satellite startup Skybox Imaging in June.

One investor told The Bridge that he is interested in the sector because satellites have been miniaturized and simplified to the point that even startups can get involved in satellite development. The space funeral service that Metaps will provide with Space Shift will employ a satellite weighing less than 100 kilograms (220 lb.).

What will happen with this initiative? Regarding the Nest acquisition, it can be adopted into an energy related business if it can predict fuel consumption based on the collected temperature variation data. Smart cars being developed by Tesla or Google will also provide big data for transport, which will make it possible to foresee traffic jams or provide car owners with expendable supplies on time when needed. Micro satellites will allow the collection of a wide range of data, but the impact this will have on our lives is hard to imagine.

Metaps CEO Katsuaki Sato explained his business outlook:

Having bought out an app store survey and analytics company, we realized that there are some interesting tendencies in the global app store ranking. One is every market has a regularity, and the other thing is we can find a correlation between the app store ranking and various events such as share price variation. So we think that the future can be predictable if we can grab the aforementioned tendencies.

We think that this methodology can be adapted to various things in the world as well as app store ranking. The space industry has not adopted IT solutions so much but can cover many variations in a wider range than any other industry. “Considering our planet as a single market” is our company policy. Based on that, I thought we will start a space venture sooner or later, and we decided to partner with Space Shift as a first step.

We will feature Metaps again when more information become available.

Japan’s Metaps launches mobile flea market app Spike Box

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Tokyo-based Metaps, the startup that operates mobile monetization platform for app developers, launched a flea market app called Spike Box yesterday. The app is available in English and Japanese for Android and was developed as a sister app of their freemium payments platform Spike launched back in April. It allows you to set your item in one of four statuses – for sale, trade, rent, or giveaway – and post it with a hashtag on Facebook for sharing with your friends. In this way, you don’t need to waste your unused item but can help other people obtain it from you without buying a new one. Busy people are unlikely to use auction sites because they consider submitting their items to these sites to be time-consuming. That’s why the company has developed this app and enables facilitated trading of items via Facebook social graph. Via Venture Now

spikebox_featuredimage

Tokyo-based Metaps, the startup that operates mobile monetization platform for app developers, launched a flea market app called Spike Box yesterday. The app is available in English and Japanese for Android and was developed as a sister app of their freemium payments platform Spike launched back in April.

It allows you to set your item in one of four statuses – for sale, trade, rent, or giveaway – and post it with a hashtag on Facebook for sharing with your friends. In this way, you don’t need to waste your unused item but can help other people obtain it from you without buying a new one.

Busy people are unlikely to use auction sites because they consider submitting their items to these sites to be time-consuming. That’s why the company has developed this app and enables facilitated trading of items via Facebook social graph.

Via Venture Now

Japan’s Metaps acquires app ranking and analytics site App Data Bank

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Metaps, the company behind the app monetization platform of the same name, announced yesterday that it has acquired app ranking and analytics site App Data Bank. Since its launch back in 2011, App Data Bank has been publishing reports about app ranking and market analytics for mobile app developers. Through the acquisition, Metaps expects to create synergy with their primary business that helps developers monetize their apps in over 200 countries worldwide.

app-data-bank

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Metaps, the company behind the app monetization platform of the same name, announced yesterday that it has acquired app ranking and analytics site App Data Bank.

Since its launch back in 2011, App Data Bank has been publishing reports about app ranking and market analytics for mobile app developers. Through the acquisition, Metaps expects to create synergy with their primary business that helps developers monetize their apps in over 200 countries worldwide.

Freemium payments platform ‘Spike’ launches open beta in Japan

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See the original article written in Japanese Tokyo-based Metaps has launched on online payment platform called Spike, releasing it in open beta here in Japan. Spike is a web-based payment solution, and business users can start using it just by embedding a unique URL on their own website. Where it differs from similar services is in its business model. Payment systems typically charge user fees, like a starting fee or a transaction fee. But Spike is instead using a freemium model. Currently they have a free plan and a business premium plan. For the free plan, there is no initial fee, monthly fee, or commission. Subscribers on this plan can transact up to 1 million yen ($10,000) per month. For the business premium plan, the monthly fee is 3000 yen ($30), with no commission charged until you transact more than 10 million yen ($10,000). Beyond that there’s a 2.5% commission and 30 yen ($0.03) charged per transaction. For this open beta version, only the free plan is available. There are plans to provide an API for business premium subscribers later. I spoke to the CEO of Metaps, Katsuaki Sato, to learn more about this launch. My understanding is that you…

spike_featuredimage

See the original article written in Japanese

Tokyo-based Metaps has launched on online payment platform called Spike, releasing it in open beta here in Japan. Spike is a web-based payment solution, and business users can start using it just by embedding a unique URL on their own website. Where it differs from similar services is in its business model.

Payment systems typically charge user fees, like a starting fee or a transaction fee. But Spike is instead using a freemium model. Currently they have a free plan and a business premium plan. For the free plan, there is no initial fee, monthly fee, or commission. Subscribers on this plan can transact up to 1 million yen ($10,000) per month.

spike

For the business premium plan, the monthly fee is 3000 yen ($30), with no commission charged until you transact more than 10 million yen ($10,000). Beyond that there’s a 2.5% commission and 30 yen ($0.03) charged per transaction. For this open beta version, only the free plan is available. There are plans to provide an API for business premium subscribers later.

I spoke to the CEO of Metaps, Katsuaki Sato, to learn more about this launch.

My understanding is that you are trying to innovate upon the existing business model in this field, sort of like PayPal did, rather than targeting developers by offering APIs like Stripe or Braintree. Is that correct?

Sato: Our target is those who want to use a payment solution but don’t know how to code. I am not really looking at PayPal, but our target customers could include people who have already tried out PayPal or think it’s is a bit too complicated to use.

Your announcement says that you will offer the starter plan completely free. Does this mean there will be no limit on the amount of the transactions in the future?

Sato: As we expand the service, we plan to raise the maximum transaction amount, and ultimately get rid of that limit. What I am trying to do is recreate a real-life economy using an internet payment solution.

That’s very ambitious. You have different target demographics for the two plans, individual freelancers and small businesses. How will you set the boundary between these two?

Sato: I don’t have any specific boundary between them, but I think of businesses who transact tens of millions yen (tens of thousands dollars) monthly, seed or early-stage startups, as middle-sized. We do plan to provide additional value like APIs for business-premium subscribers.

I see. When will you start offering the business-premium plan?

Sato: We plan to start running a pilot program in May of 2014 and launch it officially this summer.

Thank you very much.

In Japan, there are smartphone payments services like Square and Coiney, and payment solutions that focus on providing APIs, like WebPay. So competition in this area is becoming fierce. Spike’s vision of having no fees for starters has drawn a lot of attention. If it really works out, I think many businesses will use it.

Metaps core business is its Android monetization platform. Founded in 2007, the company now has in eight offices around the world. According to Sato, the number of game developer clients is now a few thousand, and the total number of downloaded Android apps that implement the SDK is between 1.2 and 1.3 billion. Sato also mentioned that 20 to 30 percent of the company’s sales are from the Japanese market, with the rest from China and the East Asian market.

Apps using Japan’s Metaps monetization platform downloaded a billion times

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Japanese app monetization platform Metaps announced today that all the mobile apps using its monetization platform have achieved a cumulative total of 1 billion downloads worldwide. While the company doesn’t disclose how many apps or developers have adopted the platform to date, the number of downloads has risen in the past few months, especially after establishing partnerships with Line and Kakao to help app developers using those messaging platforms monetize better. These partnerships were particularly instrumental in the company’s rapid growth. Metaps’ monetization platform consists of three different solutions: DirectTap, a cost per click-based ad network; Exchange, a traffic exchange network for participating apps; and Metaps OfferWall, a reward ad platform. Since launching back in in 2011, the company has been focusing on providing solutions to developers in Asian markets like Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Metaps launched a new office in Shanghai in late 2013 to intensify its marketing efforts in mainland China. To commemorate this milestone, the company is providing a time-limited special offer to new users. For mobile developers, if you are new to the platform but sign up and integrate the Metaps Offerwall SDK into your app, the revenue generated will be 1.5 times…

metaps_leadimage

Japanese app monetization platform Metaps announced today that all the mobile apps using its monetization platform have achieved a cumulative total of 1 billion downloads worldwide.

While the company doesn’t disclose how many apps or developers have adopted the platform to date, the number of downloads has risen in the past few months, especially after establishing partnerships with Line and Kakao to help app developers using those messaging platforms monetize better. These partnerships were particularly instrumental in the company’s rapid growth.

Metaps’ monetization platform consists of three different solutions: DirectTap, a cost per click-based ad network; Exchange, a traffic exchange network for participating apps; and Metaps OfferWall, a reward ad platform.

Since launching back in in 2011, the company has been focusing on providing solutions to developers in Asian markets like Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Metaps launched a new office in Shanghai in late 2013 to intensify its marketing efforts in mainland China.

To commemorate this milestone, the company is providing a time-limited special offer to new users. For mobile developers, if you are new to the platform but sign up and integrate the Metaps Offerwall SDK into your app, the revenue generated will be 1.5 times the normal amount. This offer is effective for new users who sign up before the end of this month, starting today.

Our readers may recall that Metaps raised 1 billion yen (about $11 million) in series B funding from Fidelity Growth Partners back in 2013.

Japan’s Metaps partners with KakaoTalk, helps Korean developers monetize apps

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See the original story in Japanese. Japanese app monetization platform Metaps announced today that it has partnered with Kakao Corporation, the company behind the popular messaging app KakaoTalk, with the intention of intensifying its market expansion in Korea. KakaoTalk initially launched back in 2010, and now provides its messaging platform in 13 languages in 230 countries. It has acquired over 100 million users worldwide so far. With this latest partnership, both companies expect to help third-party developers using the Kakao Game platform to monetize and market their apps. As we recently reported, more and more global developers are getting into the Korean market these days. This trend also includes many Japanese startups as well.

metaps_leadimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Japanese app monetization platform Metaps announced today that it has partnered with Kakao Corporation, the company behind the popular messaging app KakaoTalk, with the intention of intensifying its market expansion in Korea.

KakaoTalk initially launched back in 2010, and now provides its messaging platform in 13 languages in 230 countries. It has acquired over 100 million users worldwide so far.

With this latest partnership, both companies expect to help third-party developers using the Kakao Game platform to monetize and market their apps. As we recently reported, more and more global developers are getting into the Korean market these days. This trend also includes many Japanese startups as well.

Japan’s CocoPPa adopts Metaps’ ‘Exchanger’ to help profitability and advertising

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Based on our original article in Japanese United Inc. has announced that it will implement Metaps’ Exchanger, a network for user traffic exchange, into its popular smartphone homescreen decoration app CocoPPa. The newly released Exchanger service enables developers to optimize their Android app icons for best performance. With the implementation of Exchanger, CocoPPa is looking to bolster its profitability and advertising. Recently provided by Metaps as a beta release, Exchanger is a developer platform for monetizing Android apps. In line with the official release of Exchanger, it has been designated for introduction into CocoPPa. Metaps, as many of our readers may know, is a subsidiary of United, with investment from Venture United Inc. Apps which use Exchanger can have full screen advertisements displayed at any time. Icons are displayed as advertisements in other apps where Exchanger has also been introduced. By transferring customers reciprocally between apps in this manner, the platform allows developers to acquire users at no cost. Furthermore, when a user downloads a new app via a displayed Exchanger advertisement, the developer receives advertising revenue based on the number of downloads. To learn more about the platform, Metaps has recently published some informative slides which you can check…

exchanger

Based on our original article in Japanese

United Inc. has announced that it will implement Metaps’ Exchanger, a network for user traffic exchange, into its popular smartphone homescreen decoration app CocoPPa.

The newly released Exchanger service enables developers to optimize their Android app icons for best performance. With the implementation of Exchanger, CocoPPa is looking to bolster its profitability and advertising.

Recently provided by Metaps as a beta release, Exchanger is a developer platform for monetizing Android apps. In line with the official release of Exchanger, it has been designated for introduction into CocoPPa. Metaps, as many of our readers may know, is a subsidiary of United, with investment from Venture United Inc.

Apps which use Exchanger can have full screen advertisements displayed at any time. Icons are displayed as advertisements in other apps where Exchanger has also been introduced. By transferring customers reciprocally between apps in this manner, the platform allows developers to acquire users at no cost.

Furthermore, when a user downloads a new app via a displayed Exchanger advertisement, the developer receives advertising revenue based on the number of downloads. To learn more about the platform, Metaps has recently published some informative slides which you can check out below.

On a related note, CocoPPa also recently announced that it would collaborate with Chinese search giant Baidu on the Japanese input method editor app, Simeji for Android.