SmartNews, co-founded by University of Tokyo researcher Ken Suzuki, is valued at $1.1bn following a $28m series E round led by Japan Post Capital.
SmartNews, a Japan-based curated news app developer co-founded by a University of Tokyo researcher, yesterday received $28m in series E capital led by mail, courier and logistics services provider Japan Post, according to Bloomberg.
The round valued SmartNews at $1.1bn. Japan Post invested through its corporate venturing subsidiary Japan Post Capital.
SmartNews has built a news aggregation platform that uses machine learning technology to source articles from publications, such as Associated Press, and deliver personalised feeds. The app forwards readers to the original article, rather than mirroring content.
The app has been downloaded more than 40 million times to date and reportedly has 20 million active users.
The funding will drive continued growth, with a focus on US operations where it hopes to counteract media bias in the run-up to the presidential election by delivering coverage from across the political spectrum.
The company was co-founded…
Thierry Heles
Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).
