American Express made an acquisition in Japan by picking up restaurant booking service Pocket Concierge in an undisclosed deal.
The acquisition was announced in Japanese and in English by James Riney, the head of 500 Startups Japan, which invested in Pocket Concierge as one of its first deals in the country.
The service was launched in 2013 to help book quality restaurants, including those that are Michelin-starred and others that have months-long waitlists for reservations. It currently works with 800 restaurants and is available in Japanese, English and Chinese; its closest competitors include OpenTable and local operator TableAll.
American Express said Pocket Concierge will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary. It plans to integrate the business with its card membership services.
Pocket Menu, the parent company, raised a $600,000 seed round, which included 500 Startups and others, before going on to raise an undisclosed Series A and other investments. Founder Kei Tokado is a former chef; he was joined by co-founder and CFO Tatsuro Koyama in 2015.
“When we were just getting started, we talked about the opportunity for cross-border M&A in Japan. For foreign companies, acquiring locally is a viable way to unlock value in this country. A lot of people rightfully doubted that possibility, as it is so uncommon. Pocket Concierge not only proved that it is possible, but they also found a home at one of the world’s most well-respected companies,” Riney — the 500 Startups lead — wrote.
American Express acquisitions from last year included travel assistant Mezi and U.K-based fintech startup Cake.
