KAUMO

KAUMO Inc. was a Japanese startup that operated "KAUMO," a curation media platform. The company was founded on August 1, 2014, by Kazumitsu Ota. KAUMO focused on providing content across various lifestyle genres, including interior design, gifts, beauty, fashion, tourism, and gourmet food, with the stated mission of eliminating the mismatch between people and products through purchasing.

The platform functioned as a web service proposing new lifestyles by publishing curated articles and summaries. It leveraged strong SEO knowledge and experience to connect users with products. The business model was based on performance fees from e-commerce operators and advertising platforms, generated when users made purchases or clicked on ads through the KAUMO media. At one point, the service reached approximately 13 million monthly unique users and 55 million monthly page views.

KAUMO secured seed funding in 2014 from Skyland Ventures, East Ventures, and Incubate Fund. This was followed by another funding round in 2015 through a third-party allotment to Drecom. The company aimed to evolve into a platform that connected people and goods, with plans to add features like user-generated content, chat-based Q&A, and linking user posts to a product database to further guide purchasing decisions. The ultimate goal was to become a primary marketing destination for e-commerce businesses. However, the domain kaumo.jp is no longer active and information suggests the company has ceased its main operations.

Keywords: curation media, lifestyle platform, Japanese startup, e-commerce marketing, content platform, SEO optimization, performance-based advertising, product discovery, online media, Kazumitsu Ota, Skyland Ventures, East Ventures, Incubate Fund, Drecom, digital content, user-generated content, online community, affiliate marketing, fashion media, beauty content