SmartNews is a news discovery company founded in 2012 that operates a mobile app delivering trending news to over 40 million readers worldwide. The app aggregates content from a network of more than 3,000 media partners across 200+ local news sites, surfacing more than 400,000 articles daily through a combination of algorithmic ranking and human editorial curation.
The company maintains offices in Tokyo (where it is headquartered), Osaka, Palo Alto, New York, and Singapore. It operates three main business lines: the SmartNews app for news discovery and reading, SmartNews Ads for digital advertising reach (particularly in Japan), and SmartNews+, a subscription service providing curated content from premium publishers. The company also operates SlowNews, Inc., a subsidiary focused on supporting investigative journalism.
SmartNews has received recognition including the Prime Minister's Award at the Japan Startup Awards 2023 and multiple awards from Google Play and the App Store. The company describes its approach as combining intelligent algorithms with expert human curation to deliver quality journalism to readers seeking information on stories that matter to them.
