SmartNews, the Japan-based curated news app developer backed by social media company Mixi and mobile game publisher Gree, secured ¥3.8bn ($38m) in series D funding today.
The state-owned Development Bank of Japan led the round, which also featured SMBC Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, as well as Japan Co-Invest Limited Partnership and angel investor Kotaro Chiba.
SmartNews’ aggregation app draws content from some 1,500 partner publications and curates stories of interest to the user as determined by their previous activity in the app.
Gree led the company’s $36m series B round in 2014, investing together with Atomico, before the two joined Mixi and Social Venture Partners for a $10m bridge round in March 2015. Globis Capital Partners had invested about $4m in SmartNews in 2013.
The company will use the funding, raised at a valuation of $500m to $600m according to TechCrunch, to support recruitment, marketing and product development as it looks to expand domestically and internationally.