Japan-based instant messaging service Line launched a ¥5bn ($42m) fund today that will fund companies in a range of sectors including e-commerce, payment technology, online-to-offline, media and entertainment.
The Line Life Global Gateway fund is intended to be active for 10 years and will be managed by the company’s chief strategic marketing officer, Jun Masuda. It is thought to be part of a wider strategy to expand Line’s product to a greater range of offline services.
The news follows an announcement at Line’s annual showcase in October 2014, when the company revealed it would diversify its revenue streams by offering its own micropayments service, Line Pay, cab-hailing app Line Taxi, and a food delivery service called Line Wow.
Line also launched a $100m gaming fund in September 2014 managed by its corporate venturing arm Line Ventures that invests in Japan-based mobile game developers. It had formed a $10m seed-stage fund with venture capital firm Collaborative Fund two months earlier.