Nikkei acquires stake in Singapore AI startup DC Frontiers

Japanese media company Nikkei Inc. has acquired a 14.79% equity in Singapore-based AI startup DC Frontiers to support the product development of scoutAsia, a data and news service launched by Nikkei and the Financial Times last year.

Photo credit: G. Crescoli.

ScoutAsia provides users with an English-language database of Asian companies and Asia-focused business news.

DC Frontiers will use its AI technology to enhance scoutAsia’s news monitoring and corporate information search functions, as well as to develop various features for the news service, according to a statement. The new co-developed features will be available from October.

Since its foundation in 2011, DC Frontiers has provided services to financial and non-financial corporations and Asian government institutions under the brand name Handshakes. Handshakes’ AI solutions make it possible for its users to efficiently automate information gathering through news monitoring, among others.

The company’s technology can be used for applications such as article tagging and the creation of connection maps, which show relationships between companies, individuals, and capital investment.

DC Frontiers is also licensed to sell the corporate data of more than 90 million registered companies in China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, the statement said.

Joint projects such as scoutAsia and Excedo, an English business education program, are part of Nikkei’s strategic diversification of its business lines. The Financial Times joined Nikkei in 2015.

Nikkei said it is increasing its focus on Asian tech news, entering into business and capital tie-ups with startup media companies in China and India earlier this year.