Second Round of D2 COMMUNICATIONS Funding to Fuel Robust, Global Growth Plans
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 10/04/11 -- Affle, Asia's leading mobile media company today announced that it has secured over USD 10 million investment from D2 COMMUNICATIONS Inc (D2C), Japan's largest mobile advertising company. The two companies had entered into strategic alliance, backed with a token investment from D2C earlier this year and this follow-up investment round further strengthens their association. D2C is a subsidiary of NTT DOCOMO, INC. in joint venture with DENTSU INC in Japan.
D2C now joins Microsoft Corporation, Itochu Corporation, Bennett Coleman & Company Limited and Centurion Private Equity as top tier Series A & Series B primary investors in Affle. This second round of investment is a validation that D2C and Affle view each other as significant partners in growth and that the leadership teams on both sides share common goals of global leadership in mobile advertising and mobile products. Freshly raised capital will be used for consolidation of product development efforts and in further strengthening Affle's business in existing Asian markets and launching in newer markets.
Anuj Khanna Sohum, Chairman, Affle Group of Companies, said, "We are delighted to announce the deepening of our relationship with D2C, one of the most experienced & successful mobile advertising companies in the world. There are perfect synergies in our respective visions of being globally prevalent mobile media companies with great products which benefit consumers and ad industry alike. With our greater strategic association we plan to significantly further Affle's product portfolio and traction to deliver greater value to our users and mobile media partners globally."
Takayuki Hoshuyama, CEO, D2 COMMUNICATIONS, said, "Our partnership with Affle brought us immediate results; truncating the learning graph for the markets we have wanted to enter. We have been very impressed with the significant growth Affle has had over the last few years and value Affle's deep knowledge of mobile consumer behaviour, relationships with large telecom companies and advertisers. We believe that developing Asian markets have huge untapped potential for mobile advertising and are confident that our experience from Japan would help Affle become the dominant mobile advertising player in these mobile-first markets."
Affle has enjoyed tremendous success across Asian markets through it leading mobile messaging solutions; Pinch, SMS2.0 Live among others. On the business side Affle's success has been driven via partnerships with 10 leading telecom companies with a combined reach of over 500 million subscribers with whom they create innovative and effective mobile advertising solutions. Over 100 top tier advertisers have been regularly using Affle's products & platforms to deliver effective & engaging campaigns.
D2C on the other hand is the largest mobile advertising agency of Japan with rights to sell all inventories on NTT DOCOMO, Japan's biggest mobile operator with over 57 million subscribers. D2C also dominates selling inventories, on the most popular social networking and news sites and general portals in Japan like www.mixi.jp, www.gree.jp, Yahoo Mobile, Mobage-town (DeNA) among others. D2C is in strong partnerships with major advertising agencies in Japan like DENTSU, HAKUHODO, ASATSU-DK, CyberAgent, OPT, SEPTENI among others.
About Affle: Affle is a leading international mobile media company with the headquarters in Singapore. Affle has consistently delivered innovations that enhance the user experience on mobile messaging and make mobile media a reality. Affle currently operates in Singapore, India, China, the UK, the US, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Affle's investors include Microsoft Corporation, Itochu Corporation of Japan, Bennett Coleman Company Limited (BCCL); Centurion Private Equity and D2C. For more visit www.affle.com
About D2 COMMUNICATIONS: D2C was established on June 1, 2000 as the first company in the world specializing in mobile advertisement. Under the corporate slogan "One-Stop Mobile Marketing," D2C has been in adverting business, media representative business, mobile solutions business, and other overall mobile marketing business. Since 2010, the corporate slogan was revised into "No Wireless, No Marketing." In addition, to utilizing mobile advertising and marketing business, D2C is now expanding their business including wireless domain as smart phone and such new devises.
Furthermore, D2C has been administrating "Mobile Ad Awards" which is the first award ever in the world specializing in mobile, publishing trade publication "DIGITAL&DIRECT NEWS," and aggressively promoting an awareness campaign as a council member company of various kind of organization such as the Internet Advertisement Promotion Conference and others. www.d2c.co.jp/en/
About NTT DOCOMO: NTT DOCOMO is a world-leading mobile operator and growing provider of comprehensive services centered on mobility. The company serves over 58 million customers in Japan via advanced wireless networks, including a nationwide 3G network and one of the world's first commercial LTE networks. Leveraging its unique capabilities as a mobile operator, DOCOMO is a leading developer of cutting-edge technologies for NFC mobile payments, mobile GPS, mobile TV, intuitive mobile assistance, environmental monitoring, smart grids and much more. Overseas, the company provides technical and operational expertise to eight mobile operators and other partner companies. NTT DOCOMO is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. Please visit www.nttdocomo.com for more information.