e-machi town expands group coupon buying service partnering with Shareee China /Venture Now

e-machi town announced that it acquires new shares of Shareee China, a subsidiary of SBI Veritrance. The amount is 150 million yen. Each of SBI Investment's operating fund, e-machi town and SBI Holdings secure 50 million yen.

After the allocation of new shares, SBI Veritrance holds 50%, and above three holds 16.67% respectively.

Sharee China was just spun out from SBI Veritrance on January 14th. It operates JJ Street, shopping information service for tourists from China. e-machi town set up Shareee jointly with SBI Group in 2010 August. Shareee is a group coupon buying service in Japan.

With this alliance, Shareee China plans to launch group coupon buying service of venues in Japan for tourists from China.

Venture Now 2/4/2010

memo

• It seems Groupon clone race is getting calm down by two strong services, Groupon Japan and Recruit's Ponparade gets long lead against over 100 of competitors.
• However, it could be a good idea to differentiate from those giants by targeting tourists from other countries, even though the market size is limited.