Japanese messaging app developer Quan closes series A funding for further ASEAN expansion

Quan, a Tokyo-based messaging app developer that makes games and stickers for a variety of popular chat apps, announced the closure of its series A round earlier today. The funding – rumored to be in the millions of dollars – comes from existing benefactors Daiwa Corporate Investment and East Ventures, who are also joined by Dentsu Digital Holdings, IMJ Investment Partners, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, and Senshu Ikeda Capital.

Kazuhiro Mizuno, Quan’s CEO, was mum on the exact amount, but tells Tech in Asia that the funding will be used to push deeper into Southeast Asia.

“We will use the new funds to expand operations to countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam,” he says. “Now, we have a local office in Thailand and a running operation for AIS applications and collaborations with local game companies. We would like to leverage our experience into other areas operating game publishing and sticker distribution.”

Quan’s partnership with AIS, Thailand’s largest mobile service provider, began in May 2013.

Mizuno says that Quan’s stickers have been downloaded more than 100 million times. Between its apps and localized games, the startup has seen more than 15 million downloads.

“Stickers are an easy and humorous tool to deliver your emotions,” adds Mizuno. “Choosing stickers to send others is a very fun experience for users. We believe that stickers are the easiest – and the strongest – content available for smartphones.”

Quan raised an undisclosed seed round from Japanese ecommerce giant Netprice and East Ventures back in August 2012.

See: Here are the startups we met at Deloitte’s Morning Pitch in Tokyo
Disclosure: East Ventures, one of Quan’s investors, also invests in Tech in Asia. Read our ethics page for more information.