SmartNews Overview

  • Year Founded
  • 2012

Year Founded

  • Status
  • Private

  • Employees
  • 566

Employees

  • Latest Deal Type
  • Debt

  • Latest Deal Amount
  • $70M

  • Investors
  • 23

SmartNews General Information

Description

Operator of a news platform intended to discover and deliver the latest trending news stories. The company's platform uses machine learning algorithms to evaluate articles, and social signals and intelligently categorizes these stories into business, technology, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, and world tabs, enabling users to stay updated with the news.

Contact Information

Website
www.smartnews.com
Formerly Known As
Gokuro
Ownership Status
Privately Held (backing)
Financing Status
Venture Capital-Backed
Corporate Office
  • 2nd Floor, Ichigo Jingumae Building
  • 6-25-16 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
  • Tokyo, 150-0001
  • Japan
Primary Industry
Publishing
Other Industries
Application Software
Vertical(s)
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, TMT, Mobile
Corporate Office
  • 2nd Floor, Ichigo Jingumae Building
  • 6-25-16 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
  • Tokyo, 150-0001
  • Japan

SmartNews Timeline

2021202220232024
Financing RoundCaptured Employee CountEstimated Employee Growth

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SmartNews Valuation & Funding

Deal Type Date Amount Raised to Date Post-Val Status Stage
8. Debt - General 09-Jan-2024 $70M Completed Generating Revenue
7. Later Stage VC (Series F) 15-Sep-2021 Completed Generating Revenue
6. Later Stage VC (Series E) 18-Nov-2019 Completed Generating Revenue
5. Later Stage VC (Series D) 08-Jul-2016 Completed Generating Revenue
4. Later Stage VC (Series C) 30-Mar-2015 Completed Startup
3. Early Stage VC (Series B) 07-Aug-2014 Completed Startup
2. Early Stage VC (Series A) 01-Feb-2014 $4.1M $4.1M Completed Startup
1. Accelerator/Incubator Completed Startup
To view SmartNews’s complete valuation and funding history, request access »

SmartNews Cap Table

Stock # of Shares
Authorized		 Par Value Dividend Rate (%) Original
Issue Price		 Liquidation Liquidation
Pref. Multiple		 Conversion Price % Owned
F preferred
E Preferred
D2 class preferred
D1 Preferred
C preferred
B2 preferred
B1 preferred 4,039,800 $7.89 $7.89 1x $7.89 13.66%
A preferred 1,635,000 $2.37 $2.37 1x $2.37 5.53%
To view SmartNews’s complete cap table history, request access »

SmartNews Comparisons

Description
Primary
Industry
HQ Location
Employees
Total Raised
Post Valuation
Last
Financing
Details
Operator of a news platform intended to discover and deliver the latest trending news stories. The company's platform us
Publishing
Tokyo, Japan
566 As of 2023

Hyderabad, India
 

Bangalore, India
 
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SmartNews Competitors (18)

Company Name Financing Status Location Employees Total Raised Last Financing Date/Type Last Financing Amount
NewsPlus Accelerator/Incubator Backed Hyderabad, India
Dailyhunt Venture Capital-Backed Bangalore, India
Toutiao Venture Capital-Backed Beijing, China
Axios Media Formerly VC-backed Arlington, VA
InShorts Venture Capital-Backed Singapore, Singapore
You’re viewing 5 of 18 competitors. Get the full list »

SmartNews Patents

  • 14

    Total Documents Applications and Grants

  • Total Patents Families

  • 9

    Granted

  • 5

    Pending

  • Expiring in next 12 mo

SmartNews Recent Patent Activity

Publication ID Patent Title Status First Filing Date Technology (CPC) Citations
US-20240331660-A1 Program, terminal control method, terminal, information processing method, and information processing device Pending 31-Mar-2023
JP-2023170588-A Program, method for controlling portable terminal, portable terminal, and information processing device Active 19-May-2022
US-20230409265-A1 Program, mobile terminal control method, mobile terminal, and information processing device Pending 19-May-2022
JP-2022077871-A Information processing terminal and program Pending 12-Nov-2020
JP-2022028729-A Information processing equipment and programs Pending 08-Jun-2020 H04W4/029
To view SmartNews’s complete patent history, request access »

SmartNews Executive Team (13)

Name Title Board Seat
Kaisei Hamamoto Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Yi Ren Chief Strategy Officer & Board Member
Cory Ondrejka Chief Technology Officer
Ken Suzuki Ph.D Co-Founder & Executive Chair
Megumi Yoshinaga Head of US Sales Marketing & Global Marketing Operations
You’re viewing 5 of 13 executive team members. Get the full list »

SmartNews Board Members (3)

Name Representing Role Since
Ken Kutaragi Self Board Member
Minoru Imano Globis Capital Partners Board Member
Yi Ren SmartNews Chief Strategy Officer & Board Member
To view SmartNews’s complete board members history, request access »

SmartNews Signals

Growth Rate

Weekly
Growth
Weekly Growth

Size Multiple

Median
Size Multiple

Key Data Points

Similarweb Unique Visitors

Majestic Referring Domains

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SmartNews Investors (23)

Investor Name Investor Type Holding Investor Since Participating Rounds
Chiba Dojo Venture Capital Minority
Green Co-Invest Investment Asset Manager Minority
JIC Venture Growth Investments Venture Capital Minority
Princeville Capital Venture Capital Minority
Woodline Partners Hedge Fund Minority
You’re viewing 5 of 23 investors. Get the full list »

SmartNews Acquisitions (2)

Company Name Deal Date Deal Type Deal Size Industry Lead Partner
Tombo 21-Dec-2018 Business/Productivity Software
Pictory (Japan) 21-May-2018 Merger/Acquisition Social/Platform Software
To view SmartNews’s complete acquisitions history, request access »

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SmartNews FAQs

  • When was SmartNews founded?

    SmartNews was founded in 2012.

  • Who is the founder of SmartNews?

    Kaisei Hamamoto and Ken Suzuki Ph.D are the founders of SmartNews.

  • Who is the CEO of SmartNews?

    Kaisei Hamamoto is the CEO of SmartNews.

  • Where is SmartNews headquartered?

    SmartNews is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

  • What is the size of SmartNews?

    SmartNews has 566 total employees.

  • What industry is SmartNews in?

    SmartNews’s primary industry is Publishing.

  • Is SmartNews a private or public company?

    SmartNews is a Private company.

  • What is SmartNews’s current revenue?

    The current revenue for SmartNews is .

  • How much funding has SmartNews raised over time?

    SmartNews has raised $477M.

  • Who are SmartNews’s investors?

    Chiba Dojo, Green Co-Invest Investment, JIC Venture Growth Investments, Princeville Capital, and Woodline Partners are 5 of 23 investors who have invested in SmartNews.

  • Who are SmartNews’s competitors?

    NewsPlus, Dailyhunt, Toutiao, Axios Media, and InShorts are some of the 18 competitors of SmartNews.

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