Digital Garage invests in file sharing service Kicksend

Digital Garage, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4819, Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, President & Group CEO: Kaoru Hayashi, henceforth DG), through its subsidiary for investments and new business development, DG Incubation, Inc. (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, President: Yasuyuki Rokuyata, henceforth DGI) has invested in the U.S.-based company Kicksend, provider of a service for the real-time sharing of large files (Head Office: Mountain View, California, U.S., Co-founders: Brendan Lim, Pradeep Elankumaran.) After an introduction by ‘SV Angel III,’ the venture fund advised by prominent Silicon Valley investor Ron Conway, DG decided to pursue an investment in Kicksend. As previously announced, DG’s partnership with ‘SV Angel III’ allows DG to directly invest in startups included in the fund portfolio.

In summer 2011, Kicksend was successfully incubated in Y Combinator, a seed-stage funding firm investing in highly promising U.S.-based startups. Kicksend, the service operated by the company of the same name, was beta launched in August 2011. It is very simple to operate and allows its users to send any file in real-time, regardless of its size, e.g. pictures or movies. To send a file, a user opens a desktop or web app, enters the recipient’s email address, and either selects or drags and drops the file. The service’s UI is designed with emphasis on intuitive user experiences to make it possible for those with little knowledge of IT to operate it easily.

Company Name : Kicksend, Inc.
URL : http://kicksend.com
Date Founded : March 2011
Headquarter : Mountain View, CA, USA
Co-founder : Brendan Lim, Pradeep Elankumaran
External Shareholder : True Ventures, SV Angel, Start Fund, DGI