"We are truly proud of the success that Kobo and Indigo have achieved," said Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo and chair of Kobo. Indigo said both it and Kobo believe that Rakuten is the right partner for Kobo to continue to grow because of its e-commerce strength. closed a $50-million financing aimed at helping the company fund its international expansion. bookstore chain Borders had owned 11 per cent of Kobo when it began liquidating assets in July. Other investors in Kobo include Australian book and music chain RedGroup Retail and Cheung Kong Holdings, an investment company controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.īankrupt U.S. However, ebook sales are also quickly eating into profits of traditional bookstores like Indigo and its Chapters division. Kobo has been quickly catching up to Amazon's Kindle with its own reader and distribution system. Indigo founded Kobo and spun it off in 2009 to compete in the global ebook sector against industry leader Amazon and a multitude of other companies with devices, software or services. However, the global market for ebooks is intensely competitive and it takes some financial muscle to invest in its continued growth. The company did not say why it decided to sell its Kobo unit, which has been a rapidly growing part of its overall retail business. Indigo (TSX: IDG) owns 51 per cent of Kobo and expects to receive between US$140 million to US$150 million from the sale. will buy all of Kobo Inc., an announcement that came just minutes before the retailer reported a second-quarter loss of $40 million. will be sold to a Japanese e-commerce company for US$315 million.Ĭanada's biggest book retailer said that Tokyo-based Rakuten Inc. Kurozumi has been leading the technology organization in the Commerce & Marketing Company for many years and in May 2023 he was also appointed as CIO of Rakuten Group where he is responsible for the technology that supports the Rakuten Ecosystem.TORONTO - The e-reader company founded by Indigo Books & Music Inc. After returning to Japan, Kurozumi was appointed Senior Executive Officer in 2019 and Group Senior Managing Executive Officer in 2022 (current position). He was appointed as Executive Officer in 2008, and in 2013 moved to the USA to take on the role of Vice President of the Americas Development Unit at Rakuten USA, Inc. (now Rakuten Group, Inc.) in 2002, primarily working in the Development Division. After graduating from Kansai University, Kurozumi started his business career at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) in 1997 where he spent 4 years. "Walk together" is our guiding philosophy and together we continue to grow stronger by taking Rakuten’s businesses to the next level with not just existing products but also create some in the relevancy of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.Īkihito Kurozumi Group Senior Managing Executive Officer, CIO, Rakuten Group Akihito Kurozumi is Group Senior Managing Executive Officer and CIO of Rakuten Group, Inc. With 1000+ (and growing) Rakutenians working on the very same mission as Rakuten Group, Inc, we believe that technology and business needs must challenge each other for true innovation to rise and make a telling business impact! We have team members who work support Rakuten's global strategy across businesses such as e-Commerce, Digital, Marketing Platforms, Ecosystem Services and so on. In 2016, Rakuten India opened it doors in Bangalore, India, the tech city known as the Silicon Valley of India! This research and development center became a key technology hub of the Rakuten Group, championing some of the products and platforms that run the businesses. With the mission of "empowering people and society through innovation and entrepreneurship," the Rakuten group rapidly grew with regional headquarters across the world. In 1997, Rakuten first began with Rakuten Ichiba, a B2B2C marketplace, with just six employees, one server, 13 merchants.
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