Tokyo, Japan – February 12, 2015 – LINE Corporation, owner and operator of the free call and messaging app LINE, today announced its decision to invest in 3Minute inc. through the LINE Life Global Gateway fund.

At the LINE Conference Tokyo 2014 held last October, LINE announced its plan to become a platform for everyday life for all users both online and offline under the theme of “LIFE.” Then, on February 9, 2015, LINE announced the establishment of the LINE Life Global Gateway fund, which provides financial support to service providers operating in the fields of O2O, e-commerce, payment, media and entertainment, while enhancing and facilitating their collaboration with LINE-related services. 

 

The recipient, 3Minute, is a production company specializing in the production and management of next generation influencers, particularly female YouTubers. They also produce original and commissioned-based videos. izu (Misaki Izuoka), who has a LINE official account with more than 570,000 followers and a LINE BLOG, a blog service for celebrities, debuted from 3Minute as a YouTuber. Popular fashion model and entertainer, Angelica Michibata, and Hana Tam, a YouTuber who enjoys great popularity in Hong Kong and Taiwan, will also be joining 3Minute. 

 

3Minute aims to add 100 new female YouTubers by March 2015. LINE intends to expand its digital content by working with their online celebrities through this agreement.

 

LINE will provide financial support to 3Minute, while 3Minute will play an active role in LINE’s expansion of its entertainment platform by publishing content from their celebrities on LINE and other LINE-related services including LINE BLOG and LINE Q, a smartphone Q&A service.

 

This investment allows both companies to further accelerate business expansion and develop an ecosystem which leverages the LINE platform. 

 

Overview of 3Minute inc.

Representatives: CEO Hirokuni Miyaji

Headquarters: 3-6-28 Aobadai, Meguro-ku, Tokyo

Founded: November 17, 2014

Capital: JPY 21 million

Business Description: Management of female YouTubers and production of videos

 

Overview of Fund (Information current as of now but may change in the future)

Name: LINE Life Global Gateway

Location: Japan

Estimated Fund: Approximately JPY 5 billion

Investors: LINE Corporation, LINE Ventures Corporation 

Period of Operation: 10 years beginning on February 4, 2015

Operating Company: LINE Ventures Corporation

Representative: Jun Masuda

Main Investment Targets: Service providers operating in O2O, e-commerce, payment, media, and entertainment

 

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