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SmartNews

SmartNews

Private
TokyoMedia, Entertainment & Gaminghttps://www.smartnews.com/

Last Round

IPO

Oct 1, 2026

Est. Valuation

$2B

Total Funding Raised

$479.4M

Company Overview

SmartNews is a media technology company that utilizes machine learning algorithms to curate and deliver the latest trending news stories across various categories, including business, technology, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, and world news.

Sector

Media, Entertainment & Gaming

Verticals

News & Media, Digital Advertising, Digital Publishing, Personalization

Business Model

B2C

Customer Profile

Freemium, Subscription SaaS

AI Layer

Application

Keywords

news aggregatornews apppersonalized newscontent discoverydigital advertisingnews feedAI-driven newsread-to-earnrewards programsubscription servicead-supported contentalgorithmic curationnews summarizationmedia distributionmobile engagement

Historical Pricing

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Caplight Momentum Score

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SmartNews Comparables

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SmartNews comparables — related companies by embedding similarity
CompanySimilarityMarket Cap
Alphabet Inc.
82%
News Break
82%
Flipboard
81%

SmartNews Funding Rounds

Historical fundraising activity

Data table
RoundDateAmount RaisedValuationInvestorsSources
IPOOct 1, 2026
DebtJan 9, 2024
Series FSep 15, 2021
Series ENov 18, 2019
Series DJul 8, 2016
Series C
Mar 31, 2015

Key People

Founding team and executive leadership

Daichi Kanemoto

CEO S Office

Executive Team

Kaisei Hamamoto

Co-Founder And CEO

Founding Team

Megumi Y.

Head Of Sales Marketing Global Marketing Operations, Global Communications (Japan, US, China, Singapore), CEO Office Evangelist

Executive Team

Jin AKIYAMA

CFO

Executive Team

SmartNews Investors

Notable investors and investment history

SmartNews investors
InvestorRounds
GLOBIS Capital PartnersSeries E, Series C, Series B, Series A
Development Bank of JapanSeries D
Japan Post CapitalSeries E
GREE VenturesSeries C, Series B
Princeville CapitalSeries F
Princeville GlobalSeries F
Japan CoInvestSeries D

Market signals

Structured signals derived from secondary market and firmographic data.

  • Oct 1, 2026

    Completed an Initial Public Offering.

  • Sep 15, 2021

    $230M round led by Woodline Partners and Princeville Global.

SmartNews Filings

SEC and related filings with document metadata.

Data table
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SmartNews Filings

SEC and related filings with document metadata.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Firmographic Details

HeadquartersTokyo
Employee Range498
Year Founded2012
Last FundingOct 1, 2026

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