Natasha

What Natasha does

Natasha, Inc. is a Tokyo-based (Harajuku) private media company founded in 2005 that operates Natalie, Japan's leading dedicated pop-culture news platform. The product is organized as five genre-specific verticals (Music, Comic, Owarai/comedy, Film/Eiga, Stage/theater) producing 3,500+ original, journalist-written news articles per month and aggregating to 63.25M monthly page views and 21.1M monthly unique users across web and the MynaTally mobile app, with 262.7万 combined followers across per-vertical X accounts.

The technology stack is a conventional web/app build: PHP on Laravel/Lumen and Python on Flask for web; Swift/Java/Kotlin for the iOS and Android apps; and AWS infrastructure with Docker, MySQL, Varnish, Memcached, Redis, Apache Solr and Elasticsearch. Adjacent built assets include MynaTally (push-notification community app), Pinga (co-developed with KDDI and Hatena; tracks updates across 73 web-manga sites and 732+ series), the Natalie Store EC platform (on Makeshop), and the Live Natalie event-production brand.

Revenue is generated through four streams: tier-up advertising and sponsorships handled by an in-house Media Sales Department; original merchandise (~200+ SKUs/year) sold via the Natalie Store EC and pop-ups; ticketing and event production under Live Natalie; and B2B news-content syndication to portals and SNS, sold in Basic (~260 articles/month) and Premium (~480–700 articles/month) tiers. Major enterprise customers include major Japanese record labels (Sony Music, Avex, Universal, Warner Japan, King Records, Pony Canyon, Victor, Nippon Columbia, Space Shower Network, Dwango), publishers (Kodansha, Shogakukan), and agencies. KDDI holds a 90% equity stake following the 2014 acquisition, with management holding 10%; editorial independence has been maintained post-deal.

Name

Natasha

Legal name

株式会社ナターシャ

Website

https://natasha.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Tokyo-based private media company operating Natalie, Japan's dedicated pop-culture news platform across five genre verticals (music, comics/anime, comedy, film, stage), generating 3,500+ monthly journalist-written articles and 21.1M monthly unique users for fans, entertainment-industry advertisers, and B2B news syndication clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pop Culture News Media

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311), Periodical Publishers (513120), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer News & Digital Newsrooms (Web/App-First) (MPAJADAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

News Agencies & Wire Services (General & Specialized) (MPAJADAE)

Keywords

• Pop culture news
• Entertainment media
• News distribution
• Digital content platform
• Licensed merchandise

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

Revenue model

1. Advertising & Sponsorship (タイアップ広告): Branded content partnerships, sponsored editorial articles, video content, and streaming programs created in collaboration with entertainment industry clients. The Media Sales Department (メディア営業部) handles promotion planning and advertising product sales, creating entertainment-forward promotional content that integrates with Natalie's editorial voice.
2. Natalie Store (ナタリーストア) EC Merchandise Sales: Original pop culture merchandise (artist collaborations, anime goods, manga-related items) sold through the proprietary EC store (store.natalie.mu) and pop-up exhibitions. Over 200 items produced annually. Also distributes to external retail outlets.
3. Live Natalie (ライブナタリー) Event Production: Event planning and production business covering music live events, talk events, and online/hybrid events including the 'Matsuri' (マツリー) compound online event series. Revenue from ticket sales and event production commissions.
4. News Content Licensing & Distribution: Natalie's news articles are provided to third-party portal sites, SNS platforms, and information distribution services on a subscription basis. Two service tiers: Basic (approx. 260 articles/month across 5 genres) and Premium (approx. 700 articles/month). Revenue from B2B content licensing agreements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Natasha operates the "Natalie" pop culture news media platform spanning five genre verticals (music, manga/anime, comedy, film, stage/theater), producing more than 3,500 original journalist-written news articles per month. The company extends its media business into original pop culture merchandise (Natalie Store), live event planning and production (Live Natalie), a smartphone news/community app (Mynatary), and B2B news content licensing and distribution to portal sites and information services.

Product overview

Natasha operates a portfolio-based pop culture media platform centered around the Natalie (ナタリー) brand, which encompasses five genre-specific news verticals (Music, Comic, Owarai, Film, Stage) delivering approximately 3,500+ news articles monthly. The company extends its media reach through an e-commerce store (Natalie Store), live events brand (Live Natalie), a smartphone app (Mynatary), and a joint-service web manga tracker (Pinga). Products are offered as distinct, standalone services under the unified Natalie brand rather than a unified platform with modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ナタリー: ポップカルチャー専門ニュースメディア（音楽、マンガ・アニメ、お笑い、映画、ステージ）
• 音楽ナタリー
• コミックナタリー
• お笑いナタリー
• 映画ナタリー
• ステージナタリー
• ナタリーストア
• ライブナタリー
• マイナタリー
• Pinga（ピンガ）

Products and services

• Natalie (ナタリー) Flagship pop culture news media platform aggregating five genre verticals (Music, Comic, Owarai, Film, Stage) with original reporting, interviews, and daily updates targeting Japanese pop culture fans. Generates 63.25M monthly page views and 21.1M monthly unique users.
• Music Natalie (音楽ナタリー) Music news vertical launched in 2007 covering both major and indie Japanese artists, generating 24.8M monthly page views.
• Comic Natalie (コミックナタリー) Manga and anime news vertical launched in 2008 covering manga, anime, voice actors, and media mix content with 17M monthly page views.
• Owarai Natalie (お笑いナタリー) Comedy news vertical launched in 2009 covering television appearances, live performances, press conferences, and comedy awards with 7.2M monthly page views.
• Eiga Natalie (映画ナタリー) Film and drama news vertical launched in 2015 covering domestic and international films, streaming content, and location-based theater information with 10.3M monthly page views.
• Stage Natalie (ステージナタリー)

Quantifiable outcome

• 21.1M monthly unique users and 63.25M monthly page views (2023)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ぴあ株式会社 (PIA Corporation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2020Collaboration on online live streaming infrastructure in response to COVID-19, as part of the Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project. PIA contributed venue access (PIA Arena MM), viewing environment (uP!!!, PIA LIVE STREAM), and media/promotion through the PIA app. Natalie provided media/promotion through its news platform to amplify live entertainment content reaching Natalie's 21M+ monthly users.
• 株式会社スペースシャワーネットワーク (Space Shower Network)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2020Collaboration on online live streaming as part of Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project. Space Shower provided venue access (WWW/WWW X, Space Shower studio), video recording/production, and media/promotion through Space Shower TV. Natalie provided media/promotion through its platform. Focus on music and entertainment live streaming with 5G technology.
• DOMMUNE株式会社minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2020DOMMUNE, operator of the live studio 'SUPER DOMMUNE tuned by au 5G' in Shibuya PARCO, partnered to provide its cutting-edge streaming studio as a venue for the Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project. Natalie promoted these events through its editorial coverage.
• SHOWROOM株式会社minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2020SHOWROOM provided its live streaming platform for the online live entertainment initiative. Natalie contributed editorial coverage and promotion of events streamed via SHOWROOM as part of the Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project.
• KDDI株式会社 (5G Live Infrastructure)coreTechnology or Integration · 15 May 2020KDDI provided 5G infrastructure deployment, live venue technology upgrades, streaming environment setup, and billing system construction for the Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project. Also contributed media/promotion through au Smart Pass Premium subscription service. Natalie contributed editorial promotion to KDDI-backed live entertainment content.
• 渋谷未来デザイン / 渋谷区観光協会 (Shibuya Future Design / Shibuya Tourism Association)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2020Shibuya Future Design (representative: Koizumi Hideki) and Shibuya Tourism Association (representative: Kanayama Atsugo) served as organizers of the Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project, which served as the umbrella initiative for the online live entertainment collaboration involving PIA, Space Shower, Natalie, DOMMUNE, SHOWROOM, and KDDI.
• KDDI株式会社 & 株式会社はてな (Pinga joint venture)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 November 2015Three-way joint service development for Pinga, a web manga update tracking service. KDDI provided funding and platform integration, Hatena provided identity authentication (Hatena ID), and Natasha provided editorial content (news/features) and operational management. Pinga tracked updates from 73 sites and 732+ manga series. The service was provided free to users.
• Syn.alliance (シンドットアライアンス) — Multiple Internet Service CompaniesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 October 2014Natasha participated in KDDI-coordinated 'Syn.' (Syndō) alliance of 12 internet service companies (Istyle, AppBroadCast, Weathernews, Jorte, nanapi, Navitime Japan, Hatena, VASILY, BitSeller, Luxa, and Natasha) with a combined 41M monthly users. The alliance created a common side-menu 'Syn.menu' enabling seamless navigation across partner services, a notification feature 'Syn.notification', and a shared advertising product 'Syn.ad'. Natasha's Natalie (music/comic genres) was categorized under 'Music/Comic'. This alliance was designed as a 'smartphone value multiplication plan' to create a 'portalless portal' experience.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• KADOKAWA Corporation: Large Japanese media conglomerate operating multiple entertainment news and content platforms (Famitsu, Eiga.com, ASCII, etc.) plus publishing. Indirect competitor through overlapping editorial properties and a strategic client/supplier of anime/manga news content.
• LINE Yahoo Corporation: Major Japanese digital media and tech platform operating Yahoo Japan News, LINE NEWS, and other content surfaces. Broadly comparable as a digital news distributor that competes for entertainment content licensing deals and advertising budgets.
• Pitchfork: International music journalism platform known for editorial depth and reviews. Comparable editorial-led music news model to Music Natalie, though Pitchfork is now integrated into GQ/Condé Nast's broader media portfolio.

Emerging players

• Crunchyroll News: International anime and manga news platform operated by Crunchyroll/Sony. Competes with Comic Natalie in the anime/manga vertical, but with global reach and streaming-bundled distribution.
• ComicBook.com: US pop culture news platform covering comics, anime, gaming, and entertainment. Comparable audience and content model, with international scale Natalie lacks.

Direct peers

• Famitsu (ファミ通): Japan's largest gaming and pop culture media brand operated by KADOKAWA. Comparable as a genre-leading, journalist-driven entertainment news vertical with strong community and e-commerce extensions.
• Mantan Web (まんたんウェブ): Entertainment news site operated by Mainichi Shimbun covering anime, drama, film, and celebrity news. Direct competitor in the pop culture news category with similar editorial-led content production.
• Eiga.com (映画.com): Japanese film news and movie database site covering domestic and international cinema with showtimes and reviews. Direct competitor to Eiga Natalie, particularly in theatrical film coverage and theater information services.
• Barks (バークス): Japanese music news media site covering J-pop, rock, and indie artists with original reporting. Directly comparable as a dedicated vertical-focused entertainment news platform serving similar audiences with similar editorial-led GTM.
• Real Sound (リアルサウンド): Japanese entertainment news site covering film, music, and drama with critical reviews and interviews. Overlaps directly with Natalie's film (Eiga Natalie) and music verticals, serving similar pop culture enthusiast audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/natalie_mu
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@music.natalie
• Facebookfacebook.com/music.natalie
• Instagraminstagram.com/music.natalie

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Natasha