Japanese Dating App Developer, Mrk & Co, Raised $1.3M

DEALSTREETASIA - Nov 20 - Tokyo-based Mrk & Co, which is behind mobile dating app Dine, has closed a venture investment of JPY 150M ($1.3M) from Tokyo-listed marriage agency Partner Agent and Venture United, and a loan from the Japan Finance Corporation. This follows a JPY 40M ($356,800) investment from CyberAgent Ventures and iSGS Investment Works in March 2016. Established in 2015 by CEO Keisuke Kamijo and CTO Takashi Morioka, it will officially launch its mobile app in Japan. It monetizes through a subscription model of JPY 6500 ($57) per month or JPy 4800 ($42) if users pay for the first three months upfront. The app is live in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Vancouver.