American Express buys Japan's Pocket Concierge

Financial terms were not disclosed. Pocket Concierge was one of the first investments by 500 Startups after the firm established its Japanese presence in 2016. Other backers include Monex Ventures, Nippon Venture Capital, Fuji Startup Ventures, and Line Corporation.

Pocket Concierge was founded under the name Pocket Menu in 2011 as a restaurant reservation and payment service that lists selected restaurants frequented by celebrities and well-known chefs. The idea is to help digitize Japan’s traditional restaurant industry and facilitate new customer experiences including online prepayment.

“The [Pocket Concierge] team was able to bring the best culinary experiences in Japan online and make them accessible in English and Chinese,” James Riney, head of 500 Startups Japan, said in a statement. “And their timing was impeccable: inbound tourists to Japan have increased from just under 10 million to over 30 million in the last five years.”

According to American Express, Pocket Concierge can book reservations in real-time with more than 800 premium restaurants throughout Japan. The US financial technology giant said it planned to leverage the company’s access to top restaurants in the country as a way of enhancing existing dining-related services for its global credit card holders.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Consumer
• Trade sale
• TMT
• Japan
• Nippon Venture Capital
• Exit
• Financial Services
• 500 Startups