[The Bridge] Japan’s flea market app 10sec raises $1.6 million from CyberAgent

Japanese startup 10sec operates a mobile flea market for the US market. Today the company announced that it has raised 160 million yen (about $1.6 million) from Japanese internet company CyberAgent (TSE:4751). According to the startup’s CEO Hideyuki Shoda, this follows their previous funding from Tokyo-based Incubated Fund. 

The app, which will be available on the US App Store from mid-May, lets you to sell items using your Instagram photos. ...

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The Bridge 5/8/2014 [en]

memo

• 10sec launches the service in US because there are much more Instagram users in the US than Japan. It may be very hard for Japanese startups to compete in the US market, but it is also interesting to see how it will challenge backed by CyberAgent.
• http://inc.10s.ec/ 

[The Bridge] Japanese startup raises funding for a new kind of interactive news site

Japanese startup Byus today launched the beta version of its interactive news service. The company also announced that it has secured an undisclosed sum of funding from Venture United, Incubate Fund, and Voyage Ventures. 

The news site was initially launched in alpha version back in July. Unlike other news sites, it lets you to ask other users about a specific news topic, with an article page for every topic generated through this Q&A back-and-forth. Each article page has links to other articles for related keywords, so you can easily explore topics you like. Overall, the service helps you understand a topic in depth, not only by exploring various factual information but also by hearing the voices of others. ...

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The Bridge 4/30/2014 [en]

memo

• We still see new news curation services. In other words, even though several apps like Gunosy or SmartNews seem to become popular, many developers still believe that there are enough room to enter. Different from mobile games, users may not use many news apps simultaneously nor switch to other news app. So, winners would be limited to a few. It is interesting to see who will win the competition.
• http://byus.me/

Aiming To Become Google For Outdoor, Search Places In 5 Min Walk, Pathee Fundraises 130M Yen / TechCrunch Japan

tritrue, which runs Pathee allowing users to search places within a five minutes walk fundraises 130 million yen from Opt and Daiwa PI Partners. Pathee focuses on search with a smartphone outdoor. Currently it is available with a browser, but it plans to release iPhone app in May. ...

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TechCrunch Japan 4/30/2014 [jp]

memo

• Pathee is looking to very challenging market with Google and many other search services or location based services. Accuracy of search result and easy-to-use UI would be key to grab a part of the huge market. 
• http://www.pathee.com/

[The Bridge] Japan’s news curation app Gunosy launches English version for the UK

Tokyo-based Gunosy, the startup behind the news curation app of the same name, launched an iOS app for the UK market this week. This version lets you to curate updates and articles from about 500 publications including UK-based news resources, such as The Register, BBC, The Guardian, The Independent, and The Telegraph. 

The company plans to launch an Android app for the UK market next month, and an app for the US market will follow soon. They aim to reach 80 million downloads in the global market three years from now.

The Bridge 4/24/2014 [en]

memo

• It is interesting that Gunosy choose UK as its first foreign market to go into. It must be a big challenge for Gunosy since there are tons of competitors in English markets.
• http://gunosy.com/  

[The Bridge] Japanese cloud-based accounting startup Freee raises $8M

Tokyo-based Freee, the operator of a cloud-based accounting solution of the same name, has raised $8 million from two venture capital firms, including DCM and Infinity Venture Partners. This is according to a Nikkei reported earlier this morning. 

Prior to this funding, the company secured a $500,000 in seed round funding from DCM back in March of last year, and a $2.7 million series A round of funding from DCM and Infinity Venture Partners back in July. The total amount of funding to date has reached $11.2 million since the company’s launch back in July of 2012.  ...

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The Bridge 4/23/2014 [en]

memo

• SaaS based accounting service does not look very new or trendy, but actually the category is one of the hottest area in financing news. Other companies like Money Forward or A-SaaS have also raised quite a large amount of money.
• http://www.freee.co.jp/ 

[The Bridge] Japanese apartment search portal raises $1M

Tokyo-based Chintai Joho Co., the startup behind apartment search portal Cashback Chintai, announced today that it has fundraised 100 million yen (about $975,300) from Japanese investment firm Global Brain. 

Their portal allows property agents to list apartments on a pay-per-performance basis, which doesn’t require them to pay any adverting fee until a contract is made with a tenant. If you agree on a contract for an apartment via the website, some ‘housewarming’ reward money will be given to you. At this time, the property company can be notified that a deal was been made via the website, because they are billed at this time. ...

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The Bridge 4/22/2014 [en]

memo

• A house search service is one of the most matured market in Internet services. There are several big players including Recruit, which has been the biggest one from paper magazine era. It is interesting to see if the performance-based service can compete with the existing services.
• http://cbchintai.com/

[The Bridge] Japanese travel startup Trippiece launches English version and a Singapore subsidiary

Tokyo-based travel startup Trippiece announced today that it has launched an English version to assist international travelers visiting Japan. Since its launch back in 2011, it has been serving Japanese users. Now with the launch of this English version the company hopes to establish a global user base. 

Prior to launch, they established a subsidiary in Singapore, hiring Shuying Yao as overseas marketing manager. She will be committed to user engagement and marketing in Asian regions. They currently have no plan to serve languages other than English. 

Trippiece allows you to create a travel plan and gather others who are keen to join. ...

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The Bridge 4/22/2014 [en]

memo

• Tourists coming to Japan are increasing recently, and the trend may continue until Olympics in Tokyo in 2020. Among them, Asian countries share a large part. It must be the great opportunity for Trippiece to establish a subsidiary in Singapore at the moment.
• http://en.trippiece.com/