SmartNews Candidate Deck

SmartNews is a leading news and information app committed to providing our users with accurate, timely information and supporting quality journalism in an age of misinformation, filter bubbles, and fake news.

We combine the power of our unique machine learning technology with the expertise of our editorial team to bring news that matters to millions of users from our over 3,000 global publishing partners.

Founded in 2012 in Tokyo, Japan, SmartNews has offices in Tokyo, San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, Shanghai, and Beijing.

If you want to shape the future of news media and pop a filter bubble or two, then we’d love to hear from you. Check our careers.smartnews.com for information about open positions.

Transcript

1. C A N D I D AT E I N F O R M AT I O N D E C K
2. SmartNews is delivering quality information to the people who need it. Genuine, quality news delivery is one of the most important and difficult problems facing mankind—one not even the world’s biggest platforms have solved. Our world-class machine learning and data science teams develop solutions for diversification, political balance, fake news, clickbait detection, and other measures for quality. We crawl, analyze, and categorize millions of articles from our 3,000+ global publishing partners in near real-time to bring news that matters to millions of users. W H O W E A R E
3. Message from Co-Founder and CEO Kaisei Hamamoto Our company mission is to deliver quality information from around the world to the people who need it. The definition of quality information can be argued from different perspectives. For example, we believe that quality information should be unbiased and trustworthy. In addition, we think we need to pay attention to the quality not only of each piece of information but also how we package that information into a well-designed product, providing a "balanced diet" of news that people want to know and news they should know. We are committed to accomplishing this mission, and we sincerely welcome you to be a part of our journey. W H O W E A R E
4. Fast Facts About SmartNews FOUNDERS KEN SUZUKI & KAISEI HAMAMOTO W H O W E A R E DATE ESTABLISHED JUNE 15, 2012 EMPLOYEES 500 GLOBALLY* OFFICES TOKYO, SAN FRANCISCO, PALO ALTO, NEW YORK, SHANGHAI, BEIJING SINGAPORE SERVICE AREA 150 COUNTRIES PUBLISHING PARTNERS 3,000+ *Information as of June 2023
5. W H O W E A R E For the Common Good Be a valuable contributor to society. Make a direct commitment to build a better world and help the content ecosystem thrive. Have Appreciation Know what is essential. Understand the diverse perspectives of our users and partners. Be the Owner Take ownership. Act responsibly and influence others as we work to accomplish our mission. Our Core Values
6. History of SmartNews 2012 SmartNews Inc. is established and the SmartNews app launches in Japan. 2013 SmartNews, Inc. raises 420 million yen. 2014 SmartNews, Inc. raises 3.6 billion yen in fundraising. SmartNews, Inc. is established in the US and the SmartNews app is launched in the US. 2015 SmartNews, Inc. raises 1.2 billion yen in fundraising. The SmartNews app becomes available in over 150 countries. 2016 SmartNews, Inc. raises 3.8 billion yen in fundraising. 2018 SmartNews Media Research Institute is established. 2019 SmartNews raises 10 billion yen during Series E fundraising and achieves unicorn status with a corporate valuation of over 1 billion USD. 2020 Major update launch with multiple new features for the app, including the Coronavirus Information Map. 2021 SmartNews, Inc. raises 25.1 billion yen.
7. Our Offices
8. TOKYO
9. SAN
 FRANCISCO
10. PALO ALTO NEW YORK
11. SHANGHAI BEIJING
12. Our Product
13. One Product One Team
14. Our “One Product, One Team” Philosophy Our product development structure is based on our philosophy of “One Product, One Team.” We work together every day as one cross-functional team, bridging language and time zone differences and utilizing a shared codebase to build a product that best serves the diverse needs of our millions of users worldwide. O U R P R O D U C T
15. Building an app with the common good in mind O U R P R O D U C T People today expect companies to be socially responsible. But for many companies, commitment to the well- being of society is secondary—or even antithetical—to their core business. At SmartNews, we focus on developing features that have a significant and direct impact on the lives of our users. We call this concept Product Social Responsibility (PSR). This enables us to have a positive impact on society through our core business operations. Our key PSR focus is the development of software products that democratize access to quality information that contributes directly to the common good. There are many challenges left ahead of us in this age of fake news, media polarization, and filter bubbles, but we are excited for the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution toward the solution as we continue to innovate.
16. Disaster Info Hub Feature O U R P R O D U C T We take our commitment to delivering timely and accurate information to our millions of users very seriously, especially when it comes to information about ongoing natural disasters and severe weather events. For this reason, SmartNews has a development team dedicated to Health & Safety. SmartNews launched its Disaster Hub feature in September 2021 to provide detailed information aggregation and resources for hurricanes and wildfires. During the development of this feature, we were conscious of communicating data in real-time and in an easy-to-understand format so that users could make informed decisions about their safety and well-being.
17. Coronavirus Real-Time Updates O U R P R O D U C T The series of coronavirus-related features was born from the desire to share real-time, accurate information about an uncertain and ongoing public health situation. The features released reflected the changing information needs of the public. For example, SmartNews launched a coronavirus vaccine tracking service for both Japan and the United States once vaccines became available as part of the larger Coronavirus Real-Time Updates dashboard, which provided real-time data for users about the number of COVID-19 cases, tests, and deaths. These updates to our features provide users with a full spectrum of information about the pandemic.
18. News From All Sides O U R P R O D U C T SmartNews created News From All Sides for users in the US who wanted to explore perspectives on news events they might not typically encounter due to the phenomena of filter bubbles. Users can use a slider at the bottom of the screen to compare articles about a specific news event ranging from most liberal to most conservative. SmartNews hopes that the feature will provide more transparency about the effect of news algorithms and their impact on exacerbating political polarization.
19. Our Business Model
20. Funding our mission by providing quality information through ads O U R B U S I N E S S M O D E L At SmartNews, we view advertisements as another means of delivering quality information to our users. Using the same algorithms that drive our personalized discovery experience for news media, we provide users with information about products and services that match their current interests and expose them to others they might not have considered. This approach also benefits our advertising partners, especially at a time when consumer interest in and willingness to engage with advertisements has declined significantly. SmartNews offers a variety of advertising options to our partners in both Japan and the US, giving them access to a highly-engaged user base who spend on average 5.5 hours per month* using the SmartNews app. By presenting high-quality content from our advertising partners, our users get access to more useful information, and SmartNews earns the revenue it needs to continue its mission. *Source: App Annie, Android Only, as of Feb 2021
21. Quality news & content User preferences & Interests Revenue sharing News & content Ad spots Users Media Partners Advertising sponsors Advertising Agency Advertising fees Advertising contract Our Business Model in Japan O U R B U S I N E S S M O D E L
22. Targeting markets with room for growth Size of Global Ad Market Revenue as 2021 21 144 184 108 82 38 59 226 292 Japan United States Rest of World (USD in billions) Digital Traditional O U R B U S I N E S S M O D E L SmartNews is strong in the Japanese market, having established stable revenue streams in the local ad market. Now, we are turning our sights toward the country with the most digital marketing revenue in the world: the United States. Utilizing our Japan business as a solid foundation, we will capitalize on the accelerated adoption of digital advertising due to the pandemic to expand our business and our revenue prospects. Source: IDC (2021)
23. Supporting the ecosystem of media consumers and publishers O U R B U S I N E S S M O D E L Quality information begins with quality journalism. But in a time when physical newspapers are in decline, newsrooms are forced to cut staff, and even large media companies are announcing operating losses, the ability of news outlets to produce content of integrity is increasingly constrained. In response, SmartNews implemented the Media Prosper Program for our media partners in Japan. In this program, SmartNews pays a portion of the revenue generated from native ads sold by SmartNews and published on our SmartView and ChannelView features. With this program, we hope to support the “media ecosystem” that provides readers with access to valuable, accurate information and publishers with the revenue necessary for them to continue generating quality content.
24. O U R B U S I N E S S M O D E L Media Prosper Program Ad Revenue Increased brand recognition Articles Quality content Increased article views Media Outlets Users
25. Exploring new ways to provide more value for our users and partners O U R B U S I N E S S M O D E L M ore Content Creators More Categ ories More Form ats Entertainment Economic Politics Video Streaming Small & medium enterprises User generated content Around 1436, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. This machine ushered in a brand new system of disseminating information among people. Roughly six hundred years later, we now live in a world where the forms through which we can access information seem limitless, from text to tweet, podcast to blog post. Furthermore, now nearly everyone with an internet connection can not only consume content but also produce it. SmartNews will continue to evolve as the ways we engage with information and content change as a part of its mission to deliver quality information to the people who need it, encompassing more formats and empowering more creators.
26. SmartNews, Inc Address 6-25-16 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 Website https://careers.smartnews.com/