Yello Mobile, the South Korean mobile apps business, has announced receiving further $30 million investment from SBI Holdings Inc. (SBIH). The investment comes from Japan's largest internet finance group having operations in China, Korea and Southeast Asia. The Korean startup has grown by raising around $150 million and acquiring over 80 other app startups.
Yello Mobile is leveraging SBIH's global resources to support its business development efforts in Japan and Southeast Asia through the partnership. Meanwhile, SBIH is leveraging Yello Mobile's strong market position and digital marketing expertise to expand its own business in Korea, reports Digital Journal.
Yello has represented itself as the Korea's mobile leader. It has been operating the largest ecosystem of mobile platforms, applications and services. The services include online shopping, media content, advertising, digital marketing and Online to Offline (O2O).
Company's first three quarters' revenue has been witnessed to rise 338% as a whole, compared to a year earlier. Yello has been generating sustainable revenue growth while achieving profitability in key segments. On the contrary, SBI Holdings Inc. enjoys the reputation of pioneering internet based financial services. It offers a wide range of financial services including securities, banking and insurance and has been recognized as the world's first internet based financial conglomerate. The company has recorded ¥245 billion revenue during the fiscal year 2014. It has 5,347 executives and staff members as of September 2015. SBI Holdings intends to become the No. 1 financial company in Asia through strategic business expansion in Asian developing countries. The new funding is expected to boost up Yello's continued investments in core mobile media and platform business. It will also accelerate the company's growth as the leading mobile platform in Asia. The invested is believed to further strengthening the strategic partnership between the two businesses started during the end of last year, reports Business Wire citing Yello's press release as the source. With the recent investment, the round now stands at $73 million so far. With the inclusion of SBI, the round completes Formation 8, reports TechCrunch. Yello has announced a $43 million financing roun https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/16/yello-mobile-raises-another-30m-at-a-4b-valuation-from-japans-sbi-holdings d in December 2015 to reach its value at $4 billion. SBIH's investment causes a second closure of this fund round. However, Yello expects to raise additional funds before total closure of the finance round in the coming months. Even, further investment may take place from SBIH too.
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