Japan's SmartNews secures $92m Series E
Japan-based news app SmartNews has closed its Series E round at $92 million with contributions from Japan Post Capital and Globis Capital Partners.
Local private equity firm ACA Investments and strategic investors Dentsu and Hakuhodo DY Group also participated. Finalization of the round comes after an initial investment of around $29 million in August led by Japan Post Capital. It brings total funding to $182 million and values the company at $1.2 billion.
SmartNews is a news aggregation service that compiles articles for users suing artificial intelligence-enabled filtering. This includes a "news from all sides" function, which exposes readers to media coverage from different political perspectives. It claims partnership with more than 30 major media companies, including the BBC, Business Insiders, Bloomberg, BuzzFeed, and Reuters.
The fresh capital will be used to build out the engineering team and expand SmartNews' global presence, especially in the US, where the company is said to be the fastest-growing news app and experiencing traction with a mobile advertising business. In addition to its Tokyo headquarters, SmartNews operates via offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, and Shanghai.
The company received a $38 million Series D in 2016 led by Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) with support from SMBC Venture Capital and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment. Previous investors also include US-based Social Ventures Partners, and UK-based Atomico Venture. Strategic backing has been provided by gaming company Gree and social media service Mixi.
"Our investment partners have recognized the value that we provide to our readers and the media ecosystem we help support," Ken Suzuki, co-founder and CEO of SmartNews, said in a statement. "Together, we will continue to provide quality information to those who need it, both in the US and worldwide."
Japan Post Capital was established in 2017 to support Japanese start-ups that have the potential to leverage the network and brand power of Japan Post Group. Globis raised about $320 million for its sixth Japan VC fund earlier this year with support from DBJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment. Globis is also an investor in Gree.
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