grape
grape (株式会社グレイプ) is a Japanese digital media company operating multi-brand lifestyle web properties — including grape, UPDATE, Umami bites, grape TREND, and Chardonnay — serving primarily female 30s-40s consumers with lifestyle content and corporate advertisers with tie-up advertising and Fuji-Sankei Group cross-media packages; wholly owned by Nippon Broadcasting System.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersYokohama-shi, Japan
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What grape does
grape (株式会社グレイプ) is a Japanese digital media operator founded in 2000 that runs a multi-brand web media portfolio anchored by the lifestyle property grape, launched in 2014 and reaching approximately 187.95 million monthly page views and 22.31 million monthly unique users as of May 2024. Its portfolio includes UPDATE (product and service information media), Umami bites (a five-language inbound-tourism media launched January 2024), Chardonnay (luxury lifestyle magazine launched June 2018), and grape TREND (community-marketing-focused news media launched June 2026). The company serves two principal customer sets: a primarily female 30s-40s consumer readership engaging with emotionally resonant lifestyle content, and corporate advertisers and agencies buying branded tie-up articles, cross-media campaigns, and content commerce placements.
The underlying technology stack comprises a proprietary editorial and content management system, a custom GSLB (Global Server Load Balancing) article-delivery infrastructure engineered for reliability during data-center failures or natural disasters, and AI-powered editorial tools (article correction and tag recommendation systems) built on Amazon Bedrock with Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet, which have reduced proofing workload by 60% and tag-assignment workload by 20%. Distribution leverages direct owned-and-operated web properties, a dedicated SmartNews Channel Plus slot (3,100万+ subscribers as of 2017), and multi-platform social channels (Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube) with 840,000+ combined followers.
Revenue is generated primarily through internet advertising — tie-up sponsored articles, branded content, Twitter branding packages, manga-based campaigns, and cross-media bundles with Fuji-Sankei Group partners (Fuji TV, Nippon Broadcasting, FNN Prime Online, ESSEonline) — supplemented by a content commerce / affiliate stream launched in 2022 and scaled in 2024, and advertising agency services. Pricing is quote-based, sold through a dedicated grape AD Studio sales team using multi-year contracts. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nippon Broadcasting System (Fuji Media Holdings) following the February 2016 acquisition, operates from Yokohama (relocated to Minato Mirai in October 2025), holds JICDAQ brand-safety and invalid-traffic certifications, and is a member of the UN SDG Media Compact (October 2023).
grape firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- grape
- Legal name
- 株式会社グレイプ
- Website
- https://grapee.co.jp
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- grape (株式会社グレイプ) is a Japanese digital media company operating multi-brand lifestyle web properties — including grape, UPDATE, Umami bites, grape TREND, and Chardonnay — serving primarily female 30s-40s consumers with lifestyle content and corporate advertisers with tie-up advertising and Fuji-Sankei Group cross-media packages; wholly owned by Nippon Broadcasting System.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where grape is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Yokohama-shi
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
grape business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Internet Advertising: Primary revenue driver. Sells tie-up (sponsored) articles, branded content packages, and advertising placements across its web media properties (grape, UPDATE, Umami bites, grape TREND). Also offers Twitter branding packages, manga-based content packages, and collaborative cross-media advertising with Fuji-Sankei Group partners.
- E-commerce / Content Commerce: Content commerce operations via affiliate marketing. Writers create articles featuring products available on Amazon, Rakuten, and other major EC platforms, earning affiliate commissions. Launched 2022, scaled up in 2024.
- Advertising Agency Services: Provides advertising agency services including campaign planning, creative production, and multi-platform ad distribution (Facebook, SmartNews, Outbrain, Taboola, Twitter/X, LINE, Google) on behalf of client brands.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Tie-up advertising (sponsored articles) - custom quote-based pricing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
grape product offering
Product offeringCore offering
grape operates a portfolio of web media properties (grape, UPDATE, Umami bites, grape TREND, Chardonnay) delivering lifestyle, product/service information, inbound tourism, community, and luxury content primarily to Japanese consumers, with the audience reach monetized through a dedicated advertising sales division (grape AD Studio) that sells tie-up sponsored articles, branded content, social media branding packages, and cross-media advertising campaigns with Fuji Media Holdings group partners. Secondary revenue is earned through content commerce (affiliate commissions) and advertising agency services including campaign planning, creative production, and multi-platform ad distribution.
Product overview
株式会社グレイプ operates a multi-media portfolio under the grape brand. The core offering is grape (グレイプ), a lifestyle web media delivering trending topics, life hacks, and heartwarming stories since 2014 (180M+ PV/month), complemented by UPDATE (アップデイト), a products and services information media. The company also manages specialized sub-brands: Umami bites (2024), an inbound-focused multilingual media; grape TREND (2026), a community marketing news media; and Chardonnay (2018), a luxury lifestyle magazine. grape AD Studio provides the advertising and media solutions layer across all properties.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- grape Lifestyle web media platform covering trending topics, life hacks, product reviews, and heartwarming stories for Japanese consumers, primarily women in their 30s-40s. Operated since 2014 with over 180 million monthly PV and 22 million unique users.
- UPDATE
Quantifiable outcome
- 60% reduction in article proofing workload through AI correction support system
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use grape
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
grape technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature4 records
grape partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- grape TREND (internal launch)coregrape launched 'grape TREND' as a new news media focused on community marketing, trending topics, fandom culture, and user-generated engagement. Represents grape's expansion into community-driven media alongside traditional content publishing.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreAWS selected grape's AI implementation case study for presentation at AWS Summit Japan 2025 and for publication on the AWS official blog. grape uses Amazon Bedrock and Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet for its editorial efficiency tools.
- 株式会社第一興商 (Big Echo / Karaoke BIG ECHO)minorUmami bites partnered with Big Echo to produce 6 video contents introducing karaoke store charm and Japanese singing culture for inbound tourists. Videos published on Umami bites YouTube channel.
- ウィメンズ・ヘルス・アクション / Women's Health ActionminorCollaboration on online events about women's physical and mental health, with FOD streaming, and grape publishing related editorial content. Partners include multiple pharmaceutical companies (Astellas, Kao, etc.).
- めざましmedia / フジテレビcoreJoint editorial联动 with Fuji TV's 'mezamashi media' and grape for Disaster Day themed campaign, adding Fuji TV's broad reach to the existing grape-ESSEonline partnership. Fuji-Sankei Group triple-media联动 for joint sales.
- Umami bites (Inbound Media)coreLaunched Umami bites as an inbound-focused web media serving gourmet and travel content to foreign visitors to Japan, operating in 5 languages. Built using grape's media development expertise combined with foreign-resident writers for authentic perspective.
- 扶桑社 / ESSEonlinecorePartnership with Fusosha's ESSEonline for disaster prevention themed联动 editorial content around Disaster Prevention Day (September 1). Combines ESSEonline's strength in lifestyle/home content with grape's personal-narrative approach.
- FNNプライムオンライン / フジテレビ (Fuji Television)coreOngoing content partnership between grape and FNN Prime Online for SDGs-themed联动 campaigns (International Women's Day, Sustainability), women's health events, and cross-promotional article publication. Both grape and FNN Prime Online create tailored content for their respective readership demographics.
- スマートニュース株式会社 (SmartNews)coreSmartNews hosts grape's dedicated 'grape channel' on its Channel Plus platform (3,100万+ subscribers as of 2017). This provides significant inbound traffic from SmartNews users who subscribe to the grape channel.
- 株式会社ヒューム (Hume Co., Ltd. / Tokyo Drone Academy)minorBusiness partnership for drone video production and content supply. Combined Hume's drone expertise (knowledge, piloting, operations) with grape's social media content distribution capabilities for video content services.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights6 records
grape competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Cookpad: Japan's largest recipe and food-focused web media with massive user-generated content. While distinct in vertical (recipes vs. general lifestyle), Cookpad overlaps with grape in advertising-supported Japanese web media at scale, monetizing a predominantly female household demographic.
- SmartNews: Japan's leading news aggregation app and a key distribution partner of grape (SmartNews Channel Plus). Comparable in operating Japanese-language digital media at scale, with broader news aggregation versus grape's lifestyle focus, but overlaps as a digital ad-supported media business.
- Yahoo! Japan (LY Corporation): Dominant Japanese digital media and advertising platform with news, lifestyle content, and massive reach. Competes with grape for digital ad budgets and audience attention, though Yahoo! Japan's scope is vastly broader than grape's lifestyle niche.
Direct peers
- LOCARI: Women's lifestyle web media focusing on fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content targeting a similar 30s-40s female demographic. Directly comparable in business model (display ads + sponsored content + content commerce) and audience overlap with grape.
- mer (by Mercury): Women's lifestyle and fashion-focused web media operated by Mercury. Closely comparable to grape in audience demographic (women 20s-40s) and content verticals (lifestyle, beauty, trending topics), competing for the same advertiser base.
- modelpress: Japanese entertainment and lifestyle web media with high traffic among women. Similar to grape in monetizing through advertising and sponsored content, with overlapping audience in trending topics and entertainment verticals.
- TRILL: One of Japan's largest women's lifestyle web media properties with tens of millions of monthly PVs. TRILL is the closest direct competitor to grape in the same target demographic (30s-40s women) and same product category (lifestyle trending content), competing directly for advertising budgets.
- SAVVY JAPAN: Inbound tourism-focused web media covering Japanese travel, food, and culture in multiple languages. Closely comparable to grape's Umami bites sub-brand in audience (foreign visitors to Japan) and content (gourmet, sightseeing, inbound marketing).
- Time Out Tokyo: English-language (and multilingual) city guide and lifestyle media focused on Tokyo, covering food, culture, and attractions for visitors and residents. Comparable to Umami bites in inbound tourism content and advertising-supported model.
Emerging players
- Women-type media (Locari / 4MEEE / Sheage cluster): Sheage and similar women-focused Japanese web media targeting younger demographics. Emerging direct competitor with comparable content commerce and sponsored article models, though smaller scale than grape.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
grape social profiles
Digital presencegrape compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
grape financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
grape leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
grape funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
grape M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about grape
What does grape do?
grape operates a portfolio of web media properties (grape, UPDATE, Umami bites, grape TREND, Chardonnay) delivering lifestyle, product/service information, inbound tourism, community, and luxury content primarily to Japanese consumers, with the audience reach monetized through a dedicated advertising sales division (grape AD Studio) that sells tie-up sponsored articles, branded content, social media branding packages, and cross-media advertising campaigns with Fuji Media Holdings group partners. Secondary revenue is earned through content commerce (affiliate commissions) and advertising agency services including campaign planning, creative production, and multi-platform ad distribution.
Is grape a public or private company?
grape is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was grape founded?
grape was founded in 2000. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is grape based?
grape is headquartered in Yokohama-shi, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does grape make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Internet Advertising is the primary driver. The others are E-commerce / Content Commerce and advertising Agency Services.
Who are grape's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Cookpad, SmartNews and Yahoo! Japan (LY Corporation). Direct peers are LOCARI, mer (by Mercury), modelpress, TRILL, SAVVY JAPAN and Time Out Tokyo. Women-type media (Locari / 4MEEE / Sheage cluster) is listed as an emerging player.
Does grape have an API?
No public API is recorded for grape.