June 1, 2012
- GMO Pepabo, Inc.
paperboy&co.
Press Release
Paperboy&co. Establishes New Ebook Company, BookLog, Inc.
Tokyo – June 1, 2012 – GMO Internet Group company paperboy&co. Inc. today announces the division of the company that operates Japan's leading book club community, BookLog, and ebook publishing and sales platform, Puboo has been spun off into new company, BookLog, Inc.
Having identified growth potential in the ebook market, paperboy&co. established online book review and recommendation community, BookLog in October 2009, and in June of the following year launched Puboo, an ebook self publishing platform that allows users to create, publish and sell ebooks. Both services quickly developed a large user base and today have a combined total of over 500,000 users (as of 5/2012).
BookLog, Inc. was established with the objective of giving the company more flexibility to operate and grow its services in a rapidly expanding market. The new company will manage BookLog, Puboo and ebook related business.
Outline of New Company
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Company Name
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Location
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Cerulean Tower, 26-1 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
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Capital
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50 million yen
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Investment Ratio
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paperboy&co. Inc. 100%
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CEO
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CEO Kengo Yoshida
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Business Description
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Book review community site, ebook publishing and sales platform management, ebook advertising
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Going forward the new company will seek to build stronger partnerships with between BookLog and ebook sellers. Already a function that allows readers to add ebook and magazine product information to BookLog is available on BookLive (BookLive, Inc.), Fujisan.co.jp (Fujisan Services, Inc.), GALAPAGOS STORE (Sharp, Inc.), and Honto (2Dfacto).* The new function connects users with new content both digital and in print.
At the same time, BookLog, Inc. will focus on offering new self-publishing opportunities including a feature that will allow readers to decide how much they pay for an ebook using a “Donation” function (set to launch this summer), together with more new ways for users to buy and sell ebooks.
The company aims to boost combined membership of both services to 1 million users in the next fiscal year.
*1 (in alphabetical order)
Media Inquiries
paperboy&co. Inc.
Email: [email protected]
GMO Internet
Email: [email protected]
About GMO Internet Group
GMO Internet Group is one of the most comprehensive providers of industry-leading Internet services worldwide. As well as domain registration, web hosting, ecommerce, and payment processing businesses that each hold the top share in their respective markets in Japan, services operated by the group include Internet advertising, search engine marketing and research. Global online security brand GlobalSign and major Japanese online securities brokerage, GMO CLICK Securities are also group members. In 2011 a new Social Media & Smartphone Platform segment was established bringing together group initiatives in social apps development, flash marketing and Android apps distribution. GMO Internet, Inc. (TSE: 9449) is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
paperboy&co. Inc.
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Company Name
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paperboy&co. Inc. (JASDAQ: 3633) http://www.paperboy.co.jp/
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Location
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Cerulean Tower, 26-1 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
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CEO
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Kentarow Sato
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Business Description
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-Web Hosting –Ecommerce solutions –Community business
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Capital
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JPY120.62 million yen (5/2012)
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GMO Internet, Inc.
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Company Name
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GMO Internet (TSE First Section Code: 9449) http://www.gmo.jp/en
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Location
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Cerulean Tower, 26-1 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
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CEO
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Masatoshi Kumagai
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Business Description
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- Web Infrastructure & Ecommerce – Internet Media
- Internet Securities – Social Media & Smartphone Platform
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Capital
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JPY3 billion
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