Rakuten

From fast food to fine dining, everything but the kitchen sink is suddenly just a tap away.

Online Food Delivery

Headquartered in Spain, Glovo operates an on-demand delivery app, connecting customers to independent local couriers to send or purchase a range of&nbsp; goods including food, pharmaceutical items, groceries, and gifts. The company uses a hybrid business model for its quick commerce (q-commerce) operations, involving a mix of merchant partnerships and its own network of 18 dark stores as at January 2021 (with plans to expand to 200 dark stores by the end of 2021). The company&nbsp; also launched a portfolio of eight virtual/delivery-only food brands in July 2021, under which Glovo provides the menu, ingredients, brand name and recipes to restaurants, who operate under the selected brand using their existing facilities and staff. According to Glovo, the program, titled Glovo Concepts, was designed to assist restaurants impacted by the pandemic to launch fresh brands rapidly with minimum investment costs, while using Glovo’s delivery service.&nbsp;Glovo operates in over 26 countries, including Portugal, Italy, Poland, Romania and Kenya, servicing 3.8 million active customers via a network of 58,000 couriers as of September 2021, with established ties to 89,000 local shops and restaurants. The company claims to be a market leader in 80% of the countries where it has operations. Glovo divested its Latin American operations in September 2020, exiting eight countries and selling its assets to rival Delivery Hero, in a deal worth up to EUR 230 million (~USD 274 million). The company had previously exited its Middle Eastern operations in Turkey and Egypt, in January 2020, which management attributed to the Middle East being too competitive for Glovo to pursue further expansion. Following the successive divestments, the company announced plans to focus on strengthening its presence in core markets while expanding across Africa, Southern and Eastern Europe. As part of its geographical realignment, Glovo launched operations in Moldova, Uganda and Kyrgyzstan in October 2020, and subsequently acquired Ehrana (one of Slovenia’s largest food delivery companies) in May 2021. The company also acquired Delivery Hero’s Balkan peninsula operations in May 2021, for a transaction value of around EUR 170 million (~USD 202 million). In September 2021, it announced plans to invest an additional EUR 50 million (USD 60 million) over the next 12 months, to fund its expansion in Africa, focusing on countries such as Tunisia. Africa accounted for around 30% of Glovo’s geographical footprint, as at Sep 2021, with grocery sales reportedly contributing roughly 50% of the company’s business in some countries. According to Glovo, the fresh investment will make its platform available to 6.5 million consumers in Africa.In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35651">October 2024</a>, Glovo introduced new social features and video content capabilities to its food delivery app, including friend connectivity through phone contact matching, a "Picks" feature for saving and sharing restaurant lists, and a TikTok-style vertical video feed.&nbsp;Glovo is also bullish on the on-demand grocery delivery space. The company expects its Q-Commerce division to hit an annual Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of over EUR 300 million (USD 354 million) in 2021 and exceed EUR one billion by end 2022.&nbsp; In September 2021, it announced plans to acquire two regional on-demand grocery delivery companies, Lola Market and Mercadão.&nbsp;Glovo charges its merchant/restaurant partners a commission on products sold through its platform, while customers pay a delivery fee.&nbsp; Restaurants are not required to pay a joining fee for the use of Glovo Concepts, but are subject to commission charges.

Quantum information processing is slowly becoming a reality, ushering in a new technological era.

Quantum Computing

QuEra Computing is a company commercializing advanced quantum computers based on neutral atoms. The company operates the world’s largest publicly-accessible quantum computer, which is available for general use over the Amazon Braket cloud. QuEra was built on pioneering research conducted at both Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company is developing large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computers to tackle classically intractable problems for commercially-relevant applications.&nbsp;QuEra’s technology is built on large-scale arrays of atoms, laser-cooled to microkelvin temperatures and held in vacuum by movable laser tweezers. These atoms serve as the memory banks for scalable quantum computing with ultrafast, high-fidelity gates, and a clear technology roadmap to millions of qubits. Users can access this technology today on the cloud, running quantum algorithms of their own design on QuEra’s first-generation machine, Aquila, a 256-qubit Quantum Processor available on Amazon Braket.&nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26416">February 2024</a>,&nbsp; QuEra was assigned to construct the world’s most advanced quantum computing testbed by the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) in the UK which is expected to be fully operating by 2025.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn November 2023, the company and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23884">Quantum Machines</a> were awarded a Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation grant to jointly develop an improved Photonic Control Unit (PCU). In addition to that QuEra collaborated with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23181">QMware</a> in October 2023, to integrate QuEra's processor with QMware's hybrid quantum computing cloud. In October 2023, the company was also awarded two Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23066">(DARPA)</a> contracts as part of the Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow (IMPAQT) program and collaborated with BlueQubit for quantum algorithm and application development.

Retail investors demanding sophisticated passive investment strategies are looking for an edge.

Retail Trading Infrastructure

Acorns operates a micro-investing app that automatically invests contributions from users into diversified portfolios consisting of stock and bonds. The platform enables users to set up automated investments through small amounts of change money. The app rounds up debit or credit card purchases made from a linked card to the nearest dollar and invests the change on behalf of the individual. The company also enables users to set up recurring investments on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, and provides additional features such as automated portfolio rebalancing and educational tools to improve financial literacy.The company’s products are offered under three tiers: 1) Lite 2) Personal and 3) Family at USD 1/3/5 per month respectively. The company’s most basic package offers investment accounts, with the latter two providing additional features such as retirement and checking accounts. In November 2023, Acorns launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24469">Mighty Oak Debit Card </a>, a debit card providing the option to invest spare change from transactions, in partnership with Dwayne Johnson. The Mighty Oak Debit Card provides 3.00% checking APY and 5.00% APY on the card's emergency fund savings, with no minimum deposit or balance requirements.As of May 2021, the company had around 4 million subscribers in the US with revenue of USD 71 million in 2020 representing 61.4% year-over-year (YoY) from 2019. Recent revenue growth has been driven by an increase in high paying subscribers. The company expects to achieve a revenue of USD 126 million for 2021, implying a growth rate of 77.5% YoY. Acorns is yet to be profitable and incurred an operating loss of USD 65 million in 2020.Key customers and partnershipsIn January 2024, Acorns extended its <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25326">partnership with Helix </a>, a banking-as-a-service platform, to launch its new debit card, the Mighty Oak Debit Card.Funding and financialsIn March 2022, Acorns raised USD 300 million in Series F funding led by TPG at a valuation of USD 2 billion. The management planned to utilize the funds to pursue more acquisition opportunities and invest in growth and innovation. The company had also indicated that it will pursue a traditional IPO following the termination of its proposed USD 2.2 billion merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Pioneer Merger Corp.

Democratizing financial technology with a suite of API-based solutions

FinTech Infrastructure

UK-based Currencycloud offers an infrastructure platform for banks and other financial businesses to integrate cross-border money transfer services into their offerings. The infrastructure is created through a collection of payment and conversion APIs which lets users create their own payment platforms. Businesses can also use Currencycloud to build end-to-end payment platforms through including fund collection, conversion, and payments. In 2019, the company claimed that its 85 APIs were used to transfer USD 50 billion between around 180 countries. The company also reported that it was working directly with over 350 companies at that time. In January 2020, Currencycloud raised USD 80 million in a Series E funding round co-led by Visa and Sapphire to invest in expanding its presence in Asia. In March 2021, the company partnered with the European banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, HUBUC, to power cross-border payments made by HUBUC’s enterprise customers, across Europe. Visa announced signing a definitive agreement to acquire Currencycloud in July 2021, at a GBP 700 million (USD 962 million) valuation, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Currencycloud will retain its current management team and continue operating from London. Visa expects to leverage the acquisition to boost existing foreign exchange capabilities, generate new use cases and payment flows, accelerate the time-to-market, and improve payment transparency for customers. Currencycloud also appointed Mark Ledsham as COO and Neil Drennan as CTO, just one month after this announcement.

Making banking work, without the paperwork

Neobanks

BlueVine offers banking services to small businesses via a web portal and mobile app. The company offers both checking accounts and loans, in addition to direct payment services.The company’s checking accounts, inclusive of a debit card, do not require a minimum deposit or balance and do not charge monthly service fees. The company offers a 2.00% APY on checking accounts with balances up to USD 250,000. Moreover, customers have the option to choose between checking accounts that offer FDIC insurance up to USD 3 million or the standard USD 250,000. Under its credit segment, BlueVine offers invoice factoring, lines of credit, and term loans. Invoice factoring is offered for values up to USD 5 million, with interest rates starting at 0.25% per week. Meanwhile, lines of credit are offered for values up to USD 250,000, with interest rates starting at 4.8% bi-annually, with durations of six months or one year. In addition, it introduced <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23835">BlueVine Premier</a> in November 2023, a new subscription plan priced at USD 95 per month. This plan offers Business Checking account users a high yield, along with 50% discounts on most standard payment fees, priority customer support, and additional benefits such as access to commercial services typically reserved for large corporations.Key customers and partnershipsThe company offers its banking services in partnership with Coastal Community Bank and Celtic Bank.In August 2021, the company ventured into the insurance segment by partnering with Next Insurance, a small business insurance provider, to offer insurance policies to BlueVine’s customers. This includes coverage for general liability, professional liability, and workers’ compensation, among others.As of December 2023, the company served over 500,000 small business owners, managed over USD 1 billion in deposits, and issued USD 14 billion in loans.Funding and financialsIn September 2020, the company received USD 75 million in funding from Atalaya Capital Management, in the form of a revolving credit facility. The funding was expected to be used to further enhance its product offering, particularly within the credit space.

Eliminating financial intermediaries by directly connecting individuals and businesses

P2P Financial Platforms

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 Upstart is an online lending platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to assess borrowers' creditworthiness beyond traditional credit scores. It provides personal loans ranging from USD 1,000 to USD 50,000 with repayment terms of three or five years. Upstart partners with banks and credit unions to fund these loans.
 
 
 
 
 Upstart's lending model considers factors like education, employment history, and area of residence in addition to credit scores. This approach aims to provide access to affordable credit for borrowers with limited or poor credit histories. As of March 2024, Upstart's partner banks offer annual percentage rates (APRs) ranging from 7.8% to 35.99%.
 
 
 
 
 Upstart stands out for its quick approval process, with most borrowers receiving an instant decision and funding as soon as the next business day after acceptance. The platform charges origination fees of up to 12% and allows borrowers to change their payment due date once every 12 months.
 
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Riding together toward a sustainable future

Shared Mobility

<div>
 
 Lyft is a technology company that provides an on-demand ride-hailing platform connecting passengers with drivers. The company operates a mobile app that allows users to request rides from nearby drivers using their personal vehicles. Lyft's primary offering is private rides, enabling passengers to book individual trips for transportation. In addition to rides, the company expanded into food and package delivery services in recent years.
 
 
 
 
 Lyft's business model relies on leveraging its network of independent contractor drivers who utilize the platform to accept ride requests. The company charges a commission on each completed trip, with the remaining fare going to the driver. Lyft has implemented various features within its app to streamline the ride experience, such as upfront pricing for passengers and in-app tipping for drivers.
 
 
 
 
 Lyft's technology facilitates the ride-hailing process by matching nearby available drivers with passenger requests, optimizing for factors like proximity and demand. The app leverages GPS tracking to provide real-time updates on driver locations and estimated arrival times. Passengers can rate drivers after each trip, contributing to the platform's safety measures.
 
 
 
 
 In terms of market presence, Lyft operates primarily in the US and Canada. As of March 2024, the company held a 24% market share in the US rideshare industry, trailing behind its larger competitor, Uber. Lyft's observed sales saw a 3% year-over-year increase in March 2024, though they have yet to surpass pre-pandemic levels.
 
 
 
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A new generation for mobile connectivity with 5G and beyond

Next-gen Mobile Networks

AST SpaceMobile is building the first and only global broadband cellular network in space to operate directly with standard, unmodified mobile devices based on our extensive IP and patent portfolio. The company's team of engineers and space scientists are on a mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today's five billion mobile subscribers and finally bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected. The company was founded on May 31, 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.

KINS is a research company that offers expertise in research into bacteria to run clinics and develop new drugs.

Rakuten Medical is a biotechnology company that develops precision, cell-targeting investigational therapies based on its proprietary Alluminox platform comprising drugs, devices, and other related components.

Amondz is a jewellery ecommerce platform that provides buyers and sellers with quick access to a production list, price quotations for consumers, and customer support.

QuEra Computing is a neutral-atoms-based quantum computing startup, located in Boston, near Harvard University. The company is founded on pioneering research recently conducted at Harvard and MIT. At QuEra, our mission is to build the industry’s most scalable quantum computers to tackle useful but classically intractable problems for commercially relevant applications in optimization, simulation, materials science, pharmaceuticals, and more.

AWL is involved in video analytics based on AI and Deep Learning. AWL Solutions provide AI Industries with actionable insights and intelligence. AWL is currently working on business development with real-world store trials, with the goal of launching the service to retail industries across Japan and around the world. AWL was founded in 2016 and has offices in Tokyo, Japan, Hokkaido, Japan, and Hanoi, Vietnam.

AST SpaceMobile is building the first and only global broadband cellular network in space to operate directly with standard, unmodified mobile devices based on our extensive IP and patent portfolio. The company's team of engineers and space scientists are on a mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today's five billion mobile subscribers and finally bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected. The company was founded on May 31, 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.

ShopBack offers a one-stop lifestyle portal that powers smarter purchase decisions for consumers. Today, ShopBack is the dominant player in Southeast Asia’s e-commerce Cashback market, with an established presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan, powering over 1,000 orders per hour.   ShopBack enhances shopping by providing up to 30% Cashback for consumers to boost their purchasing power while providing cost-effective marketing solutions for merchant partners. With over 1,300 merchant partners, including Uber, Expedia, and Lazada, ShopBack constantly strives to bring a smarter shopping experience to the consumers. In October 2015, ShopBack was awarded the winner of the Gold award in the Best Start-up (Growth Stage) category and a Silver award in the Best Innovative Infocomm Products (Consumers) category at the 7th Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) Awards. This is the local start-up’s maiden voyage in industry awards, pitting against more than 300 nominations for the esteemed titles. The company was recently awarded the Emerging Enterprise Award in September 2016, jointly organized by The Business Times (Singapore) and OCBC Bank, which recognizes outstanding small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore.

DataX Co., Ltd. is the company behind an integrated digital marketing platform called B->Dash.

Altiostar Networks designs equipment focused on deploying and expanding mobile network operator’s LTE networks. Altiostar Networks is a seasoned team of technology entrepreneurs with a very successful track record. The company is building an exciting array of solutions for the mobile broadband industry. Its vision and mission is to enhance communications experience and reduce the cost of technology.  Altiostar Networks's highly experienced team is working on some innovative ideas.

Fever is a live-entertainment discovery platform helping people to discover compelling experiences in their cities, with a mission to democratize access to culture and entertainment in real life. Through its platform, Fever inspires its community to enjoy unique local experiences and events, from immersive art exhibitions, interactive theatrical experiences, festivals, and classical music concerts to molecular cocktail pop-ups while empowering creators with data and technology to create and expand experiences.

Careem operates a car booking platform that connects passengers with local drivers. The company's platform provides a marketplace of community drivers where passengers can request a ride in minutes, see the cost, and have it charged to their credit card of choice, giving passengers access to affordable and advantageous transportation.

Uncover Truth is an analytics company that offers data visualization services through the web and mobile.

Okan Japan is a food and beverage service provider company. Their values include perspectives on life and family that people desire to cherish when balancing work and life. The goal of Okan Japan is to improve working people's quality of life and make sure that everyone who works is healthy and prosperous.

Glovo is a Barcelona based start-up that is transforming the way consumers access local goods, enabling anyone to get nearly any product delivered in less than 60 minutes. They are currently present in Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and many more to come. Glovo’s mobile application connects customers with independent local couriers, who acquire goods from any restaurant or shop in a city and also deliver urgent packages for a variable fee. The mobile app allows users to find and place orders with their favorite restaurants which are picked up when ready and delivered to the user's doorstep. The platform’s features include geolocation, which allows customers to track their deliveries in real-time and locate the nearest glover (courier), thus optimizing speed and distance. It´s like a new personal courier available to everyone that runs your errands immediately and on-demand.

TORANOTEC CORPORATION aims to create a world where investment is familiar to everyone by realizing ''from consumption to investment'' through the services of asset management subsidiaries , utilizing advanced technology.

Everledger is a global technology enterprise specializing in addressing real-world economic, environmental, and societal challenges through their solutions that create ecosystems of trust. It is an ecosystem of trust is where all stakeholders within a network, are able to collaborate through a trusted data protocol. This trust is created through the ability to transparently trace and manage assets throughout their lifetime journey, across different touchpoints within the ecosystem. The company's breakthrough solutions harness the latest in emerging technologies including smart contracts, machine vision, and IoT, together with their proven and scalable blockchain-enabled platform. They combine a rich forensic approach to identify and track asset provenance to provide confidence in the transparency driven across global supply chains. This brings disparate stakeholders together with the trust that has been built. Everledger is independently committed to deploying scalable solutions for its clients’ needs today while having the freedom to lead with breakthrough solutions that tackle the challenges they face.

Genesis Healthcare is a privately-owned Japanese genetic testing and research company headquartered in Japan since 2004. With launching new Asian headquarters in Singapore and its branch in Taiwan early 2018, we currently offer services across Southeast Asia. Possessing the largest genetic database in Japan and Asia comprising over 988,000 people and 1,500 diseases, Genesis Healthcare provides research and clinically validated genetic testing services using the most advanced PCR, Microarray and NGS technology. Genesis Healthcare is also Japan’s top market leader in the consumer genetics segment with its brand “GeneLife,” and promotes preventive healthcare through genetic testing. To purchase our genetic testing kits, please visit https://www.genelife.asia/product As the pioneer in genetic research and testing in Japan, Genesis Healthcare works closely with various government agencies in formulating genetic testing guidelines to secure accuracy and protect individuals’ genetic information.

Lyft designs, markets, and operates a mobile application that matches drivers with passengers who request rides, and also allows payment through the app. It also allows riders to schedule rides up to seven days in advance. Its services are primarily focused on college, university, and corporate communities. Lyft is a fast-growing ridesharing company in the U.S. and is available to 95 percent of the US population. Lyft was founded in June 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer in San Francisco, California.

dacadoo is a global technology company that is driving the digital transformation in healthcare. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, dacadoo strengthens health and wellbeing through active engagement and artificial intelligence. dacadoo develops and operates a mobile-first digital health engagement platform that helps people live healthier, more active lives through a combination of motivational techniques from behavioral science, online gaming and social networks, as well as artificial intelligence and automated coaching. Based on over 300 million person-years of clinical data, its patented, real-time Health Score makes health individually measurable, which provides users with a unique engagement experience, while also offering dacadoo’s enterprise customers an effective way to measure the true health impact of wellness programs.                                        Available in 15 languages, dacadoo’s technology is provided as a fully branded, white-label solution or it can be integrated into customer products through its API. dacadoo’s customers include health and life insurance companies, health & wellness service organizations as well as large and mid-sized employers for health promotion in the workplace.

MetroResidences is a digital apartment rental service providing a fuss-free and transparent way to lease a home. Our approach relies on technology and human-centered customer service to make leasing simple, legal and paperless.

Simplesurance develops innovative cross-selling solutions for e-commerce shops to combine traditional insurance industries with fast-paced digital business. Simplesurance's solution enables e-tailors to cross-sell product insurances within but not only the checkout processes and even before. Therewith online-shops are able to monetize customers twice in one process and gain additional margins and profit. More than 2,000 partners including many well-known e-commerce platforms and mobile electronic manufacturers, use the innovative power and flexibility of the company’s cross-selling platform.  In addition, Simplesurance offers to all customers an innovative digital broker service to manage all of the insurances on smartphones, easy and completely paperless. Simplesurance was founded on 2012 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

Founded in 2016, ShopChat is a downloadable iOS app that replaces your device’s default keyboard app and works across all major messaging apps, including WhatsApp, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger. ​ShopChat is a product created by Chatter Commerce Inc., a San Francisco-based company that was acquired by Viber in 2017.

Currencycloud is a global payments platform built on smart technology that takes the complexity out of moving money. Developers use their API building blocks to build customized payment solutions. Whether you want to embed their payments infrastructure into your products or services, or build on top of it, they will fit into your business in a way that works for you. They take care of all the intricacies and regulatory hurdles involved with cross-border payments, giving you the tools to globalize your business.

Upstart is a lending platform that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to price credit and automates the borrowing process. The company's proprietary underwriting model identifies borrowers despite limited credit and employment history by using variables including schools attended, area of study, and work experience. Upstart powered banks can offer higher approval rates and experience lower loss rates*, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. Upstart was founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Mateo, California and Columbus, Ohio.

AirMap is helping make drones a part of everyday life by building the foundations for the low-altitude air navigation systems of the future. The emergence of small, powerful, and autonomous drones, is transforming society. Drones are being used for agriculture, public safety, aerial photography and cinematography, and soon, package delivery. The next century of aviation innovation is happening at the local level, not across oceans, and it's happening below 500 feet. AirMap is organizing this low altitude information so innovation can take flight. AirMap works collaboratively with industry partners to create the future for drones. It focuses exclusively on providing airspace information so that others in the nascent industry can build amazing vehicles and applications. AirMap is a member of the Small UAV Coalition and the NASA Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) program.

FOLIO is a financial Instruments Business Operator .

CaféX a provider of one-click collaboration solutions to help enterprises enhance team productivity and customer engagement within digital channels. It is trusted by top global banks and other leading brands and empowers employees and guests to work together securely without friction from virtually anywhere using their preferred devices and tools. It was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in New York City, United States.

Monedo's Group’s mission is to improve financial freedom for the underbanked with the use of technology. Combining non-traditional data sources and machine learning, the company is aiming to provide access to better credit and a higher convenience for digital banking services. The product offerings include consumer loans, a digital wallet and a personal finance manager designed to help customers manage their credit score and plan their spending. Monedo also offers a “Lending as a Service” model, allowing partners to integrate Monedo's credit products via an API into their own platform and services. Monedo files for bankruptcy.

Bluevine is on a mission to enable a better financial future for small business owners through innovative banking solutions designed just for them.  By combining industry-leading technology and security with our team's expertise and care, we help small businesses spend their time on what matters most—the next chapter of their business.  As a dynamic company with massive potential, we’re backed by leading investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, and nearly 9 years of proven success. Since launching in 2013, we have grown exponentially, amassing over 400,000 customers across all 50 states and providing more than $13 billion in financing to small businesses. Our passion is driven by purpose: to give small businesses the tools they need to succeed and we’re just getting started.

Aura is a technology-powered, Community Development Financial Institution that provides fair, affordable loans to working families in America. Aura's mission is to build financially healthy low-income communities, by providing empowering financial services to underbanked and unbanked. Aura uses its proprietary scoring algorithms to review and approve credit applications and offers free credit scores and personalized expense management guidance to borrowers, allowing the working population to access loans in a simplified manner. Aura was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA.

ViSenze is the world's smartest product discovery platform. Retailers like ASOS, H&M, Rakuten, Zalora, Meesho, DFS, and EyeBuyDirect trust ViSenze to power their product discovery.  ViSenze processes over a billion queries a month from retailers, supporting them in-store and on ecommerce sites. Use cases range from enhanced search, product tagging, smart recommendations and merchandising analytics. ViSenze’s automated AI platform empowers retail merchants to increase revenue by delivering exceptional experiences that make it easier for shoppers to discover products. - Gartner Hype Cycle for Retail Technologies 2021 - CB Insights Retail Technology 100 - Top AI Companies 2022 - Leading Product Recommendation Vendor 2022

Blackstorm provides a lightweight universal development environment that can be used to create and share high-performance applications. We aspire to exist in a world free of the constraints and limitations of app stores -- and we provide the technology to create and enable that.

Dexter is the write-first platform, allowing users to focus on creating meaningful conversations, not connecting the dots. Craft dialogue in a tailored editor that makes it easy to write, edit, and test interactions. Supercharge things by connecting to any 3rd party NLP service and integrate with unlimited APIs.

Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that allows people to buy and sell preloved items. It is a Singapore-based consumer-to-consumer marketplace app for iOS and Android. The Carousell marketplace has a diverse range of products across a variety of categories, including cars, lifestyle, gadgets, and fashion accessories. It has been ranked as the top Shopping app in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia, and is backed by leading international Venture Capitalists Sequoia Capital, Rakuten Ventures, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, and QuestVC. Launched in Aug 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and has expanded to 19 cities around the world, spanning 7 countries.

Pixel Labs (Hoodline.com) is a media tech company that powers hyperlocal content discovery in 40 US cities. We're solving local news and information discovery down to a 0.2 mile radius. Using machine learning and AI, Hoodline editors turns raw data signals into thousands of hyperlocal automated stories each month. Hoodline's platform also tags and contextualize content from hundreds of partner publications, adding exact location and dozens of other classifying meta-data to each story.  Hoodline's APIs and SDK make it easy for any app or site to integrate with its platform to recommend fresh and relevant content to their users. Partners include ABC, Yahoo Search, MSN, Eventbrite, Uber, CBS, Advance Digital, Zumper and McClatchy.  Team of 28 in SF. Investors include Greylock, Rakuten, Disney, Social Capital, CRV, Innovation Endeavors & Joi Ito.

Azimo is an online money transfer company that provides a fast, secure, and low-cost alternative to legacy high street remittance services. Azimo is created with the explicit mission of cutting the costs of sending money home. Its international money transfer platform allows to send money either to a bank account or to over 270,000 cash pick-up points around the world and is accessible via mobile devices.

Acorns is a finance company that allows individuals to round up purchases and automatically invest the change. It allows customers to automatically invest in a low-cost, diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds offered by some asset managers including Vanguard and BlackRock. Acorns was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Launch pad for a wide array of HR Tech services, which has focused on revolutionizing the world’s second largest Japanese HR services industry thru technology enabled business models.   BizReach: Japan's premier online career networking service, which has transformed the Japanese business community in allowing career-driven executives to freely share and directly connect with talent-seeking employers and recruiters.Often referred to as the “LinkedIn of Japan” in the HR industry, the service has allowed over half a million executives to explore their career options by sharing their resume information in a closed online database shared amongst only employers and recruiters. The service has disrupted the executive search (recruitment) market by becoming a cloud-based talent sourcing platform for employers to recruit and hire business executives directly.   CareerTrek: The service was built on the needs of BizReach clients (employers) wanting to recruit and hire “young” professionals (20s and early 30s) more efficiently thru direct sourcing methods. Hence, the service is branded and targeted to become an online career networking service connecting young professional jobseekers and employers. Together with BizReach, the 2 cloud-based talent sourcing platforms deliver similar results to what Linkedin delivers to enterprise clients outside of Japan. An added feature of CareerTrek due to its focus on a younger audience is its recommendation engine, which supports jobseekers in not only proactively finding jobs that they think fit them, but being introduced to positions that other similar users find interesting.    Stanby: Stanby is a job search engine, which aggregates job postings from hundreds of third-party job sites. This “Google for Jobs” service enables jobseekers to search from over 4 million jobs posted online from all over the country in just one search. Stanby ATS is a service provided to employers, and is a cloud-based applicant tracking system for employers, and is free to use. Employers can create job postings, source applicants and track applicants, together functioning as a central platform for all recruitment efforts. Stanby thrives to bring every job opening to the online world, and become the largest original source of hiring information.

ACSL is an industrial drone manufacturer and solution provider in Japan originated from the laboratory of Professor Kenzo Nonami at Chiba University since 1998. ACSL is engaged in the R&D, manufacturing, sales and building solutions for industrial drone applications. With its proprietary technologies made and developed in Japan, ACSL aims to lead to the new industrial revolution of the global skies.

Lingvist is an innovative language learning platform that uses artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and machine learning algorithms to make the learning process faster and more efficient. Lingvist is a subscription service for language learning, accessible via three platforms (web, iOS, and Android) worldwide. Lingvist was launched in 2013 and is operated from Tallinn, Estonia.

Polymorph powers the monetization infrastructure for modern enterprises.  Polymorph is a white-label SaaS monetization platform for publishers to maximize revenue, reduce costs and deliver better ad experiences.The Polymorph platform offers end-to-end ad serving stack, yield optimization tools, APIs, access to demand on server-side and self-serve workflows. Modern enterprises who want to monetize with advertising choose our customizable and developer friendly platform as it aligns with their needs/strategies. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in San Francisco, California.

WePay is a payment provider focused solely on meeting the needs of online platforms that need to settle money between their users. Founded in 2008, it provides everything an online marketplace or cloud software provider needs to provide integrated payments from within their app while maintaining trust and safety. This includes not just credit card processing, but also complete solutions for managing fraud risk, regulatory compliance, and customer support provided at no extra cost. WePay is venture-backed with more than $74.15 million and was named to the Inc. 500 list in 2015 as 62nd fastest-growing private company in the US.

Fanli operates an e-commerce shopping website in China. The website includes various home appliance business websites, including e-commerce company’s websites.  Fanli lets users click on the rebate link to go to the corresponding merchant website to place an order and the merchant will pay a rebate for the user's order for a marketing fee. Gary Ge and Geng Yongchang founded Fanli in November 2006, with its headquarters in Shanghai in China.

C Channel is an online video-based media targeting women aged 20 to 34, focusing on offering lifestyle-related information ranging from hairstyling, food, to travel tips.

PocketMath is the world's largest, self-serve, mobile advertising platform for buying programmatic real-time bidding (RTB)  inventory.   We make it easy to buy smartphone and tablet ad impressions, within apps, games, and mobile websites, all in real-time. In one platform, you gain immediate access to the world's supply of mobile RTB inventory!  One platform, the world's mobile programmatic inventory. No minimums. No commitments. No set up costs. Full transparency.  PocketMath is located in Singapore, San Francisco, Austin, Washington, D.C., Mumbai, and Sydney -  with a burgeoning presence in China + Japan.  PocketMath was started three years ago by three friends who met nearly a decade past while students at the University of Texas at Austin. Eric, JD, and Casey came together to solve a need recognized in the digital advertising space. After many iterations, a year (or two!), several prototypes, and countless meetings, PocketMath was born as a mobile demand-side platform (DSP) to bid for mobile RTB inventory.

Bitnet provides a digital commerce platform enabling enterprise-scale merchants to accept bitcoin payments.  Bitnet’s engineering, product, and business development team help in building and managing the world’s largest payment gateway, CyberSource (NASDAQ: CYBS), which was sold to the world’s largest payment network, Visa (NYSE: V), for $2 billion in 2010.

Algorithmia is a machine learning model deployment and management solution that automates the MLOps for an organization, giving leverage back to data scientists and developers. It powers mission-critical workloads for its enterprise customers and hosts the largest public marketplace for algorithms. It was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and was acquired by DataRobot in 2021.

Asia's leading airline was established with the dream of making flying possible for everyone. Since 2001, AirAsia has swiftly broken travel norms around the globe and has risen to become the world's best. With a route network that spans through  to over 20 countries, AirAsia continues to pave the way for low-cost aviation through our innovative solutions, efficient processes and a passionate approach to business. Together with our associate companies, AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, Philippines' AirAsia Inc and AirAsia Japan , AirAsia is set to take low-cost flying to an all new high with our belief, ''Now Everyone Can Fly''.

Estmob is a creator behind Send Anywhere. Send Anywhere takes an easy, quick, and unlimited approach to file sharing. Easily, it allows you to send any file type, across any platform, all without having to sign up or log on. Quickly, it sends files via the optimal transfer path given network conditions. As for unlimited, you can send any file size, as many times as you want, for free.

Brangista is an e-magazine publishing company that provides web promotion support business and more. The digital magazines are free and anyone can read it without subscribing or downloading. The company also provides solution services such as EC Tencho, for companies operating e-commerce stores. Brangista was established in November 2000 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

The Apcera trusted cloud platform is a highly secure, policy-driven platform for cloud-native applications and microservices—as well as legacy applications. Apcera lets dev and DevOps teams use any modern tool or software they want while giving IT the assurance that their infrastructure is safe and secure.  With Apcera, companies can innovate at speed with full confidence and trust.   Based in downtown SF and led by CEO Derek Collison, creator of Cloud Foundry, Apcera was initially funded by Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, and True Ventures among others, and recently received a very deep 9-figure ($USD), investment from Ericsson, the global technology, cloud and mobile giant headquartered in Sweden.

Ecohai is an ecological and economic parcel delivery service provider offering low-cost delivery services with a reduced carbon and other greenhouse gases footprint. The company makes efforts to offset carbon emissions through the use of “people-power,” including bicycle-drawn carts, and electric vehicles to make deliveries. Ecohai maintains a network of more than 30 delivery bases in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka and is able to provide next-day deliveries between these major urban areas. The company has seen consistent strong growth since its founding in 2007, and today has some 100,000 corporate clients and handles more than one million parcels each month.

The most innovative, exciting products—and the people  behind them—deserve a voice. That’s where you and The Grommet come in. The Grommet is your online shop for discovering independent Makers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. Every weekday we reveal innovative new products and give you the full story behind them.  Led by Co-founder & CEO Jules Pieri, The Grommet is reshaping the way people launch, discover, share, influence, and buy products online. Our mission is rooted in Citizen Commerce®, where each of us exercises economic clout by supporting businesses whose values reflect our own—like sustainability, underrepresented entrepreneurs, or products Made in The USA.  Since 2008, The Grommet has launched more than 2,000 products (or ''Grommets'') in 16 categories. Through our selection and storytelling we spotlight products for our community of more than 2.7 million supporters in the U.S. Only 3% of the products reviewed by our Discovery Team are selected for launch. As of April 2016, The Grommet has purchased more than $40 million worth of inventory from our Makers.  Many of the products we’ve  launched have gone on to great success. Some have even become household names, like  Bananagrams, Bondic, Cuppow, FitBit, GoldieBlox, IdeaPaint, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, OtterBox, Plumen, PocketMonkey, SodaStream, Sugru, PocketMonkey, and Yogibo, among others.  In 2014, at the first-ever White House Maker Faire, The Grommet Wholesale was launched to help Makers distribute their products direct to Main Street Retailers and national chains. As of April 2016, more than 1,000 products are available to 6,500 retailers.

Pinterest is a visual bookmarking tool for saving and discovering creative ideas. It helps its users to discover and do what they love--including recipes, arts and crafts, clothing, and home projects. Its site and app allow its users to save and post images on different boards, categorized and curated to each user's individual tastes. Users can also follow boards created by other users, and re-post (or ''pin'') items to their own boards. The company was launched in 2009. To date, the site has more than 150 million monthly users and has more than 1,000 employees.

AHAlife is a fashion-based e-commerce platform connecting designers, brands, and publishers to individuals. The company's mission is to connect the best the world has to offer with discerning individuals from around the world. It is a discovery shopping destination for curated lifestyle products that span design, technology, fashion, media, food, beauty, and travel. Its platform sits at the intersection of content, commerce, and curation.

OZON is a leading e-commerce platform and one of the largest and fast-growing internet companies in Russia. Its online marketplace offers one of the largest product selections in Russian e-commerce, with more than 130 million products across 20+ categories. Thanks to Ozon’s extensive fulfillment and delivery network, more than 50% of the Russian population is covered by Ozon delivery or has a pick-up point within walking distance. The Ozon marketplace connects more than 150,000 sellers and more than 31 million customers in Russia. Marketplace sellers account for more than ¾ of turnover on Ozon by Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). The Ozon Global service supports international sellers in launching their sales in Russia (Ozon currently has more than 12,000 international sellers on its platform) and offers a variety of tools to help them grow their business. In addition to its core e-commerce business, Ozon is continuously expanding its services ecosystem, which includes fintech services through Ozon Bank, the Ozon Fresh express delivery service, and online travel and ticket booking through Ozon Travel. Ozon’s cutting-edge technology is developed by an in-house tech lab that employs nearly 4,000 IT specialists. Overall, the company employs approximately 35,000 people in its offices and logistics hubs across Russia. Ozon was ranked as the 3rd most valuable Russian internet company by Forbes Russia in 2021. In 2020, Ozon raised $1.27 billion in its IPO on the NASDAQ, which was described by Bloomberg News as the “best Russia IPO debut since 2011.”

FreeBit is a company offering comprehensive data, mobile, and computing management services to private and corporate clients. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Shibuya, Kanagawa, Japan.

Rakuten is a tech company that offers electronic commerce solutions in Japan and internationally. The company operates in three segments such as internet services, finance services, and others.  The internet services segment comprises businesses running various e-commerce sites, including Rakuten Ichiba, an internet shopping mall; travel booking sites; portal sites; and e-book businesses as well as businesses for advertising and sale of contents and similar on these sites.  Its offerings include e-reading, online travel reservations, online auctions, online marketing, online golf course reservations, portal sites, search engines, integrated internet marketing, online recipe posting and browsing, student recruiting community, online purchase of discount coupons, online shopping, and video on demand services. It is involved in the online sale of books, CDs, and DVDs.  The internet finance segment is engaged in providing services related to banking and securities, credit cards, life insurance, and electronic money. This segment provides credit card payment, internet banking, online brokerage, online comprehensive insurance, and face-to-face and online life insurance services as well as credit card transactions on smartphones and tablets.  The other segments are involved in the provision of communications services such as next-generation LTE-compatible mobile data communication, telecommunications, internet connection and corporate mobile phone services, and management of a professional baseball team.  The company was formerly known as MDM, Inc. and changed its name to Rakuten, Inc. in June 1999. Rakuten, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Europe Cashback Programs Market Report 2024, Featuring Rakuten's Expansion into New Markets, TopCashback's New Features and Quidco's Partnership with Major Retailers - ResearchAndMarkets.com

Marketplaces and related solutions for selling goods and services online

Ecommerce Platforms

C2C and B2C ecommerce platforms that enable users to sell a range of goods and services via their online marketplace (e.g., eBay, Amazon).

B2B ecommerce platforms that enable businesses to sell a range of goods and services aimed mainly at other businesses. These companies mostly provide wholesale/bulk purchases (e.g., DHgate, Lightinthebox).

B2C ecommerce platforms that enable businesses to sell specialized product categories (including electronics, fast fashion, or books) via their online marketplace (e.g., Trendyol, Asos, Bookshop).

Ecommerce solutions providers that offer software for customizable ecommerce and other websites or specific modules embedded in websites such as digital experience intelligence and ecommerce management support (e.g., Shopify, CommerceIQ).

Companies that buy and grow ecommerce brands on ecommerce marketplaces (e.g., Thrasio, OpenStore, Moonshot Brands).

Companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for ecommerce platforms

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