Japan’s Mixi Acquires Tokyo-based Barter/Curation Site Developer Kamado

Tokyo-based startup Kamado Inc., which is running several web services including auction site Livlis and a photo curation site Clipie, was today acquired by Mixi (TYO:2121), Japan’s largest social network. The acquisition details haven’t been disclosed.

Kamado was launched in 2010 by Yuichi Kawasaki, the former vice president of Kyoto-based web juggernaut Hatena. Mixi is now thought to be struggling to find new monetization models, as it has 14 million users but is falling behind Facebook in terms of user activity. With this acquisition, Mixi is expected to gain some firepower in its service planning, and in its business development for smartphone-focused services.