On Friday, GMO Venture Partners[J], an investment arm of Shibuya-based web juggernaut GMO Internet Group, launched a private equity fund specializing in investing in start-ups who are developing e-commerce and ad services to be provided on the Facebook platform (a.k.a. F-commerce), which is called Social Ad & Commerce Technology Fund. It has a JPY57M(=USD670,000) volume… Continue reading GMO-VP Launches “F-Commerce” Fund And Invests In Platform Developer
Author: Masaru IKEDA
Ready For: A New Crowd Fundraising Site For Artists Launches
Ohma Inc., a Tokyo-based tech start-up known for semantic web-based who’s-who app Spysee[J], released a Kickstarter-like crowd fundraising service called “ReadyFor?[J]” this week. The service intends to giving fundraising opportunities to amateur filmmakers, musicians and artists who would like to publish their works. If you invest in someone’s plan to develop his/her work, in return,… Continue reading Ready For: A New Crowd Fundraising Site For Artists Launches
TwitVoice Allows You To Leave Instant Voice Messages Via Twitter
Tokyo-based tech start-up Pido[J] unveiled the company’s first iPhone app today, which is called TwitVoice[J] and allows you to leave your voice messages via Twitter. It’s a free app, and you can tweet with your real voice recorded within fifteen seconds. The company expects to add some features in the future to attract the… Continue reading TwitVoice Allows You To Leave Instant Voice Messages Via Twitter
Tokyo’s Start-ups To Hold A Presentation Night In Seoul
In the beginning of next month, four tech start-ups from Tokyo and two start-ups from Seoul will jointly hold a presentation evening event in South Korea’s capital, which is called Asia Startup Summit, for expanding their presence in Asia and exchanging their perspectives on the region’s start-up community. Presentations are: Revolutionizing Digital Entertainment by advanced… Continue reading Tokyo’s Start-ups To Hold A Presentation Night In Seoul
After The Quake: Social Apps And Web Trends To Help Disaster Relief Efforts
Here’s a follow-up to my previous posts covering the grassroots movements to relieve the devastated areas. GPS-Enabled Map of Scheduled Blackouts: A team of web app developers Boss Yooann, Kabaken, Kazuhiro Kotsutsumi and Yuki Naotori has released this Google Map mash-up. Without entering your address, it helps you find which hour of the day your… Continue reading After The Quake: Social Apps And Web Trends To Help Disaster Relief Efforts
After The Quake: A Variety Of Web Mashups Collecting Wisdom Of Crowds
Following my previous story on the grassroots movements, here are some of another developments. Car Activities in Tohoku on Google Map: Google, Honda and Pioneer visualize car activities in Tohoku by using gathered data from communication-enabled car navigation systems. Blue lines stand for routes on which one or more motor vehicles have run on the… Continue reading After The Quake: A Variety Of Web Mashups Collecting Wisdom Of Crowds
Who’s Free And Tonchidot To Hold Fundraising Party At SXSW To Help Relief Efforts
A cross-post to Asiajin and Startup Dating. SXSW is currently taking place in Austin, Texas. Asiajin contributors Serkan Toto and Paul Papadimitriou are there for moderating panels on Japanese web services and social media. A team of the moderators, the presenters and the panels are now joining forces to help the disaster relief efforts… Continue reading Who’s Free And Tonchidot To Hold Fundraising Party At SXSW To Help Relief Efforts
After The Quake: Grassroots Movements In The Japanese Internet Community
A massive earthquake attacked the north-eastern part of Japan on Friday afternoon. Many JSDF troops, fire fighters and foreign rescue workers have been deployed in devastated areas, their physical rescue operations are underway. Internet users across the country are thinking about what to do to help disaster victims and survive this difficult time.… Continue reading After The Quake: Grassroots Movements In The Japanese Internet Community
Tokyo Girls Collection Aired On YouTube Live Streaming
One of Japan’s largest fashion show, Tokyo Girls Collection held its 12th event today at Yoyogi National Gymnasium. Apart from other fashion events exclusively for fashion designers and apparel buyers, it intends young girls to buy what they want with their cellphone handsets while watching the show on which women celebrities and models present… Continue reading Tokyo Girls Collection Aired On YouTube Live Streaming
Steply: A HK-made Photo Sharing App Attracts iPhone Users, Especially In Asia
Last August, I was invited to attend Startup Saturday, a Hong Kong’s first ever remarkable tech start-up event, by Takeshi Hirano, the editor and writer for TechCrunch Japan, during his one-month visit to the city. Then I could meet young aspiring entrepreneurs from more than a dozen of great tech start-up companies. One of those… Continue reading Steply: A HK-made Photo Sharing App Attracts iPhone Users, Especially In Asia