Japanese Internet behemoth CyberAgent (listed with a $1.2 billion market cap) is ready to expand its activities in the US. The company today announced it will establish a development base in San Francisco this Wednesday (December 1) with the goal of creating smartphone apps for international markets.
CyberAgent has been active in the US since February 2008 when the company established its subsidiary CyberAgent America. The plan is to boost the number of employees from the current 30 to 100 by September 2012, mainly by hiring American and Japanese engineers.
CyberAgent wants to start rolling out the first smartphone apps in March next year and expects to have a total of eight titles in its portfolio by September 2011.
CyberAgent is one of the few Japanese web companies that successfully launched services outside the country. Their biggest international hit is Ameba Pico, a virtual world that’s reportedly on track to hit the 3 million user mark by year-end. A similar platform, TinierMe, currently counts about 1.4 million members worldwide.
In September this year, CyberAgent America announced a marketing and distribution deal with Silicon Valley-based Mochi Media.
Serkan Toto