VCs invest $18m in Japan lifestyle media player
Every, a Japanese media company focused on lifestyle-oriented and smartphone-accessible content, has raised about JPY2.1 billion ($18.3 million) from a number of VCs, including World Innovation Lab.
GMO Venture Partners, Ad Hack Ventures, DCM Ventures and Itochu also participated. It follows a JPY660 million investment in 2016 from a group including DBJ Capital, Global Brain, and Globis Capital Partners.
SBI Investment, SMBC Venture Capital, Segnel Ventures, and the Intage Open Innovation Fund are among the previous investors. Individual backers reportedly include Yu Akasaka, founder of domestic IT company Eureka. According to a statement, Every has raised almost JPY5.4 billion to date.
The company’s flagship product is a distributed cooking video service called Delish Kitchen, which is said to be one of the largest apps of its kind in Japan with some three million followers. Every has a number of local competitors such as Cookpad, a recipe sharing site that listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2009, and Dely, a food media start-up that raised a JPY3.7 billion venture round last year.
Other media brands operated by Every include mother-and-baby app Mama Days, and a daily video news service called Timeline. The company also runs a women’s fashion and beauty service known as Kalos, which recently partnered with Sanrio, the maker of Hello Kitty products.
More on North Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.