Vietnam’s mWork, Japan’s Interspace forms affiliate marketing alliance, eyes PH

mWork and Interspace executives at the launching ceremony

By Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc

May 14, 2015

Vietnamese startup mWork and Japan’s online marketing company Interspace Co Ltd launched their alliance – Interspace Vietnam Co Ltd, and affiliate marketing platform AccessTrade, on Thursday.

mWork holds 51 per cent in the joint venture, while the overseas partner owns the rest. “mWork has a strong marketing base and team that can successfully deploy the business,” said  Shinichiro Kawabata, CEO of Interspace Japan, commenting on the the majority stake of mWork in the alliance.

AccessTrade, established since 2001, is the leading affiliate marketing platform in Japan and Southeast Asia, with the footholds in Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The Japanese company is now targeting a foray into the Philippines.

AccessTrade is an intermediate platform, which connects trade and online service companies (in various areas such as e-commerce, retail, banking and finance, online booking) with media partners that are website and blog owners, to promote their products to users.

The Japanese firm brings the product to Vietnam through a joint venture as it recognised the impressive growth of internet users, shopping online and the boom of digital marketing and e-commerce in the country.“Vietnam boasts a great, encouraging potential for e-commerce, thanks to its young population, which accounts for some 40 per cent of the total,” commented Andy Nguyen, the CEO of Interspace Vietnam.

The Vietnamese market has become increasingly attractive investment in the online advertising space, as it clocked a 67 per cent growth last year, one of the highest growth rates in the Asia Pacific.

The affiliate marketing alone has grown 15 per cent.

“The Vietnamese online marketing sector is moving fast. According to the figures we have collected, the size reached $120 million in 2013, next to Indonesia and Thailand. And we believe it will continue to grow,” said Kawabata.

Meanwhile, Interspace chose mWork as a partner because it is the number one in affiliate marketing and has a focus on mobile content. The company currently owns Vietnam’s staggeringly largest affiliate network of 60,000 media partners.

The core team of mWork are experienced people in the internet industry, as well as serial entrepreneurs and ex venture capitalist. Nguyen, who is also vice president of mWork, used to work with Cyberagent Ventures. He was the lead of the first fundraising round for mWork from the Japanese venture capital fund.

The company has launched an office in Jakarta, Indonesia, and its future goal is to become Southeast Asia’s leading mobile internet firm.

Related stories: Startup Review 2014: Vietnam tech firms find success, expand overseas

Dentsu Aegis acquires 40% in VN’s digital marketing firm Emerald

Japanese cos seek Vietnamese digital content partners

Global marketing firms enter Vietnam through M&As

 

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In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
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