Mido

What Mido does

Mido (味道 -MIDO-) is a Japan-based subscription culinary video platform operated by Chef's Link Co., Ltd. (シェフズリンク株式会社), founded in June 2023 and headquartered in Tokyo. The platform streams cooking and culinary-culture video content produced in partnership with top Japanese chefs, serving both consumer subscribers and enterprise clients seeking video production and food-industry consulting services. The chef roster includes Yoshihiro Murata of Kikunoi (菊乃井), Hiroshi Sasaki of Gion Sasaki (祇園 さ々木), and Wakiya Tomoji, alongside a broader network of 48+ chefs that anchors the platform's content moat.

The platform's technical architecture is built on standard cloud infrastructure: Cloudinary for video hosting and delivery, Stripe for payment processing, and Google Analytics for audience measurement. The content library comprises approximately 260 videos spanning top-tier Japanese culinary traditions, with the consumer product organized into a free tier (¥0/month, with roughly 50 videos accessible) and a paid Standard tier at ¥490/month. The consumer subscription is complemented by a YouTube presence of approximately 48,000 subscribers and a website membership base of around 5,000 as of June 2025, functioning as a top-of-funnel for paid conversion and as reach inventory for enterprise partners.

Mido's revenue model combines a freemium consumer subscription with project-based enterprise services. Enterprise offerings include video production from ¥800,000 per project and product development consultation from ¥1,200,000+. Disclosed enterprise clients include Asahi Breweries for branded culinary content, Hakodate City under the MIDO x HAKODATE regional revitalization initiative, Fukui Prefecture for documentary production, and the Hokkaido Shiribeshi Tourism Association for regional brand promotion. The company is led by Representative Director Takaki Kazumi (高木 万海) and received an angel funding round from Yomiuri Advertising (読売広告社) in June 2025, which represents its first disclosed institutional capital and supports expansion of both the consumer platform and the enterprise services vertical.

Name

Mido

Legal name

Chef's Link株式会社

Website

https://mido-world.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Mido (味道 -MIDO-) is a Japanese subscription culinary video platform operated by Chef's Link Co., Ltd., streaming approximately 260 videos from 48+ top Japanese chefs to consumers and providing video production and consulting services to enterprise clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Culinary Education

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Distribution (7822)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise/Creator Video Hosting & OTT SaaS Platforms (MPACAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Software/SaaS Subscriptions (Consumer & Prosumer) (CRAFAIAB)

Keywords

• Culinary video platform
• Subscription video streaming
• Chef content platform
• Japanese food culture
• Enterprise content production

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription (Standard Plan): Monthly subscription at ¥490 providing unlimited access to all ~260 premium videos and recipes. 14-day free trial on signup. Primary revenue driver.
2. Individual Video Purchase: Single video purchases at ¥90-290 per video. Pay-per-view option for non-subscribers wanting specific content.
3. Enterprise Partnership / Video Production: B2B services including video production (¥800,000 minimum), product development consultation (¥1,200,000 minimum), event planning, and regional revitalization projects with local governments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mido is a subscription-based video streaming platform that provides access to recipes, cooking techniques, and culinary philosophy from approximately 260 videos featuring 48 top Japanese chefs across Japanese, French, Italian, Chinese cuisines and bakery. The platform offers a free tier with limited access and a ¥490/month Standard subscription with a 14-day free trial, plus individual video purchases (¥90–290). It also delivers B2B services including corporate tie-up video production, product development consultation, and regional revitalization projects with local governments.

Product overview

味道 -MIDO- is a unified video-on-demand platform for Japanese culinary education featuring approximately 260 videos from 48 top Japanese chefs. The core offering consists of a Free Plan (limited videos) and a Standard Subscription (¥490/month for full access), with individual video purchases also available. The platform also offers enterprise services including corporate partnership programs and regional revitalization projects that leverage the chef network for brand development, product collaboration, and local food culture promotion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 200,000+ YouTube views on regional promotion content (Hakodate documentary)

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Asahi Breweries (アサヒビール)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2025Corporate tie-up video series 'ザ・プレミアム・モルツ マスターズドリーム' featuring top chefs discussing craftsmanship philosophy aligned with brand values. Five episodes produced as of the announcement.
• Hakodate City, Hokkaido (北海道函舘市)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional revitalization project 'MIDO x HAKODATE' promoting local fishery and fish cuisine culture. Collaborated with local businesses and tourism associations on documentary content.
• Fukui Prefecture / Hitomono Design Co., Ltd. (ふくいヒトモノデザイン株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional food culture documentary project featuring chef Yoshihiro Murata (菊乃井) exploring Fukui's traditional fermented food 'heshiko'.
• Hokkaido Shiribeshi Tourism Association (北海道知内観光協会)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional revitalization project promoting local brand leek '北の華' with chef Wakiya Tomoji (Ginza Wakiya) featuring cultivation methods and producer stories.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Great Courses (Wondrium): Subscription video education platform built around celebrated experts teaching niche topics. Closely parallels MIDO's positioning of turning a top-tier expert (chef) into a paid video education subscription at a low monthly price.
• Cookpad: Japan's leading recipe and home-cooking community platform with a premium subscription tier (Cookpad Mart/Plus). Operates in the same Japanese food-content + monetization space, addressing the same home-cook target audience, although its format is recipe/UGC rather than chef video.
• Skillshare: Subscription-based creative and lifestyle education platform with cooking classes among its catalog. Comparable freemium-to-paid subscription video model with content taught by experts, addressing hobbyists and prosumer learners.
• MasterClass: Subscription video platform offering premium lessons from world-class experts (chefs, etc.) — directly comparable to MIDO's model of monetizing exclusive access to elite talent through a monthly subscription. MasterClass is the closest global analog to MIDO's core product positioning.
• Curiosity Stream: Niche-focused subscription streaming service. While focused on documentaries/science rather than food, the small subscription ARPU, niche vertical, and tight library size make it a comparable business model analog for MIDO.

Broad incumbents

• Udemy: Large online learning marketplace with extensive cooking course catalog. Overlaps at the consumer-cooking-education demand level but differs via open marketplace / instructor-published model rather than MIDO's curated chef-roster approach.

Emerging players

• Nebula: Creator-led subscription streaming bundle targeting enthusiast niches — comparable as an emerging niche-content subscription platform with a top-of-funnel content distribution strategy similar to MIDO's YouTube flywheel.

Regional players

• ABEMA Premium: Major Japanese subscription streaming service. Differs as a broad-incumbent regional streaming platform, but competes for the same Japanese consumer streaming wallet and at the same monthly price tier as MIDO.

Others

• Munchery / CookMart / Japanese local food subscription brands: Japanese premium food-content and curated food retail subscription services. Indirectly comparable as adjacent Japan-focused premium food subscription plays; included because they signal the broader Japanese willingness-to-pay market for curated food experiences that MIDO also targets.
• NIKKEI The STYLE / SAVVY (Japanese food media): Japanese premium media brands covering food culture via editorial content. Adjacent rather than directly competing; demonstrates Japan demand for paid food/food-culture content at the consumer and prosumer level MIDO also targets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mido_gastronomy
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@mido_gastronomy
• Instagraminstagram.com/mido_gastronomy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Mido