CyberAgent Ventures invests in Indonesian online baby product seller Bilna

CyberAgent Ventures, the VC subsidiary of Japanese Internet company CyberAgent, has announced this week an investment in Bilna, an ecommerce platform for baby products in Indonesia. Terms of the deal were not revealed.

The founding team behind Bilna, Ferry Tenka, Jason Lamuda and Eka Himawan, are also the founders of group buying site Disdus, which were bought out by Groupon in April 2011. Bilna, which launched in July, sells formula and food, furniture, toys, clothes, as well as bath and skincare products for babies and toddlers.

CyberAgent Ventures is optimistic about the growth potential of Indonesia’s ecommerce market.

“Judging from its recent market trend and performance of our existing portfolio company, there are clear signs indicating the rapid growth of the E-commerce market in Indonesia,” it said in a press statement.

“Furthermore, due to economic growth, increase of personal income earnings and the growing population of Indonesia, we believe there is high demand of online shopping for babies and children related goods.”

This is the VC firm’s second investment in Indonesia. In April 2011, they funded a Series B round in Tokopedia, a platform for individuals and SMEs to create online storefronts.

CyberAgent Ventures has been very active in funding startups outside Japan recently. Find out what else have they been up to by following SGE’s coverage.

Japan’s CyberAgent Ventures invests in Vietnam’s Foody, a food review site

CyberAgent Ventures, the VC arm of Japanese Internet company CyberAgent, has announced an investment in Foody, a food search and review web and mobile platform in Vietnam. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

The site was launched in August 2012, and attained 10,000 restaurants and 5,000 reviews in three months. The investment will be used to facilitate further user and content growth. Read more

Vietnam’s largest streaming music site receives funding from CyberAgent Ventures

NhacCuaTui.com, described as the largest music site in Vietnam, has received an investment with undisclosed terms from CyberAgent Ventures on 3rd February, the VC firm announced.

NCT is a very popular music streaming website in the country, with around 10 million monthly users. The company name, translated as “my music” in English, is headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City and is headed by Nhan The Luan as president and CEO. Read more

Japan Digest: Social gaming market to double, dream-controlling app, and more

(1) The Nomura Research Institute says that Japan’s social gaming market will likely be worth 393.5 billion yen (US$5.1 billion) in fiscal year 2016, roughly doubling in size when compared with 2011.

(2) Ad agency Hakuhodo’s Future Technology Works department has come up with a new app that controls your dreams. The Yumemiru (translated as ‘see the dream’) app lets users select different scenarios to dream about. It influences your dreams while you snooze by broadcasting sounds. Read more

Japan Digest: App to curb protruding nostril hairs, Cave focuses on social games, and more

(1) Chololi lets anyone send a pre-written notification to the offending hairy culprit anonymously via their email. “For all you people who are thoughtful and in a difficult position, we give you Chololi the deputy service for notification about nostril hairs” explains the site.

(2) Following a disappointing financial report, Japanese video game maker Cave announced it will focus more on social games going forward. The company has an 18-year old history and is especially famous for its shoot’em ups aimed at a hardcore gamer audience.

(3) Golgo 13, a Japanese cult manga from the 1960s, is getting the social game treatment. DeNA announced it has launched a social “battle RPG” of the same name on Mobage for Japanese feature phones. Meanwhile, DeNA also announced that Sega has chosen Mobage to launch the online version of the super-successful (and pretty awesome) mobile RPG Kingdom Conquest. Read more

Indonesia Digest: MyTrans application by CT Group, Sedapur.com new payment method, and more

(1) After acquiring Detik, Trans Corp, a subsidiary of CT Group, has gone straight into the digital world by launching MyTrans, a digital content application.

(2) Online food delivery service, Sedapur.com, is now providing a new payment method via KlikBCA. Read more

New VC fund targets Indonesia with up to US$8M in new investment

CyberAgent Ventures plans to invest up to US$8M in six to eight Indonesia-based companies in 2012, reported e27.

Following the launch of their office in Indonesia last year, they kickstarted their new fund, CyberAgent Asia Internet Fund I. The fund capital will be increased, possibly up to US$15M, which will be proportionately split between Indonesia and Vietnam.

Should CyberAgent Ventures fail to find adequate startups to invest in, they will instead set up an incubation office. Read more

Japan Digest: Klab sues Crooz, Colopl new game, and more

Here are some startup news snippets from Japan, not only from its capital Tokyo, but also other startup hubs like Fukuoka, Kyoto, Osaka, and many more. Read more

Japan Digest: Japan YouTube users can rent movies, Gumi raises US$25.7M, and more

Here are some startup news snippets from Japan, not only from its capital, Tokyo, but also other startup hubs like Fukuoka, Kyoto, Osaka, and many more. Read more

Japan Digest: New game for Mobage, Koshidaka one man’s karaoke, and more

Here are some startup news snippets from Japan, not only from its capital, Tokyo, but also other startup hubs like Fukuoka, Kyoto, Osaka, and many more. Read more