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Mobile rewards network Kiip brings its service to Japan, eyes expansion to Asia

Kiip, a U.S. based startup which provides mobile phone gamers with real life rewards, has announced a partnership with Japanese based Digital Garage, which will see Kiip expanding into Asia. Who is Kiip

Cofounded by Brian Wong, Kiip is working with more than 40 brands in the U.S., and more than 400 games and apps use its network. Brian was also one of our Echelon 2012 speakers. As of June, Kiip said that they are tracking over 100 million “moments” through its system every month, which is the number of achievements that are reached in its network of games. Not every achievement gets fulfilled with a reward, but these moments are the units available to interested advertisers. Partnership with Digital Garage

To expand into Asia and Japan, Kiip will be partnering with Digital Garage. Some of the companies that Digital Garage has invested in include Twitter, Y Combinator backed Kicksend, and Path., and they bought over Singapore based Pivotal Labs earlier this year.

Brian told TheNextWeb that Digital Garage seems like the natural choice for Kiip. “It’s so obvious, the company is very established in Japan,” he says. “To join Twitter and Path as esteemed companies that have been backed by Digital Garage is a huge honor.” Kiip has also revealed that, in addition to becoming its strategic partner in Japan, Digital Garage participated in the U.S. startup’s recent $11 million round. Financial details have not been disclosed, but Brian says the company accounted for “a strategic portion” of the funding. Challenges and opportunities in Japan

Kiip shared with us that Asia has always been a priority for the company.

“Asia has always been a priority for Kiip, and we’re always looking for partners to bring our network to as many countries as possible with the best brands. There are obvious synergies in markets across the region and the widespread presence of gaming and smartphone adoption. We truly believe that will translate to rapid traction for Kiip rewards.” When asked about the challenges for Kiip’s entry into Japan, Brian shared that they “needed a strong and highly regarded local partner to help them properly assess and roll out in that region.” To overcome that, the partnership with Digital Garage made sense.

“Digital Garage helped Kiip understand the unique opportunities available to our platform in the mobile-heavy Japanese market. They have an established reputation having already successfully launched Twitter and LinkedIn in Japan, and we look forward to achieving the same results with Kiip.”