grape

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).

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

Headquarters

HQ city

Yokohama-shi

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core 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

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• grape TREND (internal launch)coreOthers · 24 June 2026grape 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)coreTechnology or Integration · 25 June 2025AWS 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)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 January 2025Umami 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 ActionminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 11 October 2024Collaboration 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coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 June 2024Joint 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)coreOthers · 1 January 2024Launched 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 / ESSEonlinecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 13 June 2023Partnership 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)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023Ongoing 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)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2018SmartNews 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)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 November 2016Business 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

Broad 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

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Umamibites2023
• Instagraminstagram.com/umami_bites.japan
• Xx.com/grapeejp

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about grape