Acquisition Takes Data Firm Fanplayr into Japan

Behavioural targeting firm Fanplayr has acquired Tokyo-based reseller and development company Jamu, a long-term partner.

With headquarters in Palo Alto, California and existing offices in New York, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Milan, London, Amsterdam and Melbourne and Tokyo, Fanplayr operates a cloud-based platform using behavioral data, machine learning and AI to help eCommerce sites understand visitors' intent, and then deliver real-time, targeted messages and offers to specific segments.

Jamu was founded in 2012 by former Reuters exec and Fanplayr investor Hideaki Ueda (pictured left), who comments: 'Expansion to Japan has been a reliable source of growth for successful foreign technology companies. Classic examples are Apple and Oracle. Penetrating this market is challenging and a visible commitment is absolutely necessary, which takes time. For these reasons, I encouraged my friends at Fanplayr to start in Japan as early as possible'.

Fanplayr founder and CEO Simon Yencken comments: 'Being the third largest economy in the world, Japan to this point has been underrepresented in terms of e-commerce as a percentage of sales. Fanplayr aims to change that, with a presence in Japan as well as Latin America, Europe, United States and Australia'. He adds: 'Ueda-san's legendary business development and sales acumen have fueled our international expansion efforts'. Derek Adelman, Fanplayr VP Asia Pacific, comments: 'The wonderful experience of working with Jamu Inc., Ueda-san and his team has not only proven that Japan can be a profitable marketplace, but that it can also be an incredible source of product features aligned around the core value of respect for the customer'.

Web site: www.fanplayr.com .