Rakuten

Rakuten is a Japanese technology conglomerate. Founded in 1998 by Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten has invested in and acquired dozens of companies over its lifetime, including Lyft, Fits.me, Kobo, and Ebates.

Startups

Lyft’s imminent IPO could value the company at $23B
Kate Clark

Mar 17, 2019
Media & Entertainment

Rakuten TV expands to 42 European countries, gets direct button on Samsung, LG, Philips and Hisense remotes
Ingrid Lunden

Mar 14, 2019

Featured

Huawei sues America as SoftBank spends more money
Danny Crichton

Mar 7, 2019
Transportation

Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute
Kirsten Korosec

Mar 3, 2019
Featured

Why longer term sheets are better
Danny Crichton

Feb 27, 2019
Media & Entertainment

Rakuten’s Viber chat app plans to charge to operate chatbots in controversial move
Jon Russell

Feb 22, 2019

Media & Entertainment

JD.com’s drones take flight to Japan in partnership with Rakuten
Jon Russell

Feb 21, 2019
Media & Entertainment

Walmart partners with Rakuten to open its first e-commerce store in Japan
Jon Russell

Dec 10, 2018
Featured

Rakuten has SoftBank in its sights
Danny Crichton

Arman Tabatabai

Nov 9, 2018
Startups

Envoy raises $43 million to digitize your office
Jon Russell

Oct 23, 2018

Media & Entertainment

Walmart and Kobo launch Walmart eBooks, an online e-book and audiobook store
Sarah Perez

Aug 22, 2018
AI

Robotics-as-a-service is on the way and inVia Robotics is leading the charge
Jonathan Shieber

Aug 19, 2018
Media & Entertainment

SoftBank’s move into new services continues with plan for a payment service in Japan
Jon Russell

Jul 23, 2018
Media & Entertainment

Glovo gets $134M to beef up its on-demand delivery business
Natasha Lomas

Jul 18, 2018

Spain’s Cabify ‘categorically denies’ that it is in negotiations for a full or partial sale to Lyft
Ingrid Lunden

Jul 6, 2018
Media & Entertainment

“Everyone is talking to everyone” — rideshare investor bypasses Uber-Careem rumor
Natasha Lomas

Jul 4, 2018
Media & Entertainment

Marketplace giants sign EU pledge to remove dangerous goods faster
Natasha Lomas

Jun 26, 2018
Startups

Naspers is in talks to invest in Southeast Asia’s Carousell
Jon Russell

Jun 11, 2018

Startups

Rakuten acquires mobile commerce startup Curbside
Sarah Perez

Jun 7, 2018
Startups

Southeast Asia-based mobile listings startup Carousell raises $85M
Jon Russell

May 13, 2018
Mobile World Congress 2018

Viber is launching Viber Communities, group chats for up to 1B users
Ingrid Lunden

Feb 28, 2018
Mobile World Congress 2018

Rakuten will roll its $9B loyalty program into a new blockchain-based cryptocurrency, Rakuten Coin
Ingrid Lunden

Feb 27, 2018

Media & Entertainment

Walmart and Rakuten partner on grocery delivery in Japan, Kobo e-books and audiobooks in U.S.
Sarah Perez

Jan 25, 2018
Techstars is launching its first accelerator program in Asia in partnership with Rakuten
Jon Russell

Dec 12, 2017
Hardware

Amazon launches its Echo devices and Alexa in Japan
Jon Russell

Nov 7, 2017
Startups

ShopBack raises $25M for its cash back shopping service in Southeast Asia
Jon Russell

Nov 6, 2017

Media & Entertainment

Kobo takes on Audible with its own audiobook subscription service
Brian Heater

Sep 6, 2017
Media & Entertainment

Viber acquires Chatter Commerce, the startup behind its shopping keyboard
Ingrid Lunden

Jul 20, 2017
Transportation

Uber rival Careem closes $500M raise at $1B+ valuation as Daimler steps in
Ingrid Lunden

Jun 14, 2017
Rakuten invests $2.8M in ‘Airbnb for business travel’ startup MetroResidences
Jon Russell

Apr 10, 2017