DecoAlbum, with 500k users, has aspirations beyond being a photo decoration app

DecoAlbum, a photo decoration app developed by Japanese startup Primeagain, has had a good run lately. Since launching in June 2012 on the iPhone and six months later on Android, the app has amassed one million users, and half of them are active monthly.

Its userbase is about 90 percent Asian, and it’s easy to see why. The app enables users to decorate their photos with cute stickers containing an assortment of emotions and ideas. More stickers can be downloaded on its in-app store, which are all free for now.

The strong Kawaii factor certainly enhances its appeal among the young female demographic in the region. But DecoAlbum has more up its sleeve than being just another photo decoration software, of which the are a variety on the App Store.

According to DecoAlbum co-founder and COO Maiko Kojima, the app aims to be a digital diary. We’re already seeing a glimpse of that in the current version: After decorating and saving a photo, the images are displayed in chronological order. We can expect more features in the future that would make DecoAlbum a more compelling visual journal.

DecoAlbum was funded in March 2013 to the tune of USD 100,000 by East Ventures, a Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia-based early stage investment firm. The company’s other founder is Nobuhiro Abe, who acts as its CEO.