IID, Inc.
Public · 2 known investors
Tokyo-listed operator of vertical news media, publishing and marketing-research services in Japan.
Also known as IID · IRI-CT · イード · 株式会社アイ・アール・アイコマースアンドテクノロジー · 株式会社イード
Investors · 2
Also in the syndicate · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026IID, Inc. (株式会社イード) is a Japanese IT and media company headquartered on the 17th floor of Harmony Tower, 1-32-2 Honcho, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, with a branch office in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture. Its main businesses are a content marketing platform segment — operating news sites such as RBB TODAY and Response., and publishing the anime magazine Animedia and the puzzle magazine Crossword King — and a content marketing solutions segment providing research solutions and media commerce.
The company's marketing research practice covers survey planning, design, fieldwork, analysis and recommendations; design-related research; usability and human-centered design consulting; global research in and out of Japan and Asia under the InterfaceASIA banner; real-world fuel-economy analytics derived from user surveys and its e-nenpi.com service; and a licensed photo library of concept cars and new models from motor shows.
IID was established on 28 April 2000 and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market on 24 March 2015 (ticker 6038), moving to the Growth market in April 2022 following the exchange's market restructuring. Capital stock was ¥50,000 thousand as of end-June 2025, and consolidated headcount was 289 including part-time staff as of end-March 2026. Representative Director is Hiroshi Miyakawa. Subsidiaries include enFactory, Net Shop Souken, SAVAWAY, Link, F.I.T. Pacific, Edito and webCG, with Ehon Navi and SODA as equity-method affiliates. The company belongs to industry bodies including JIAA, JMRA, ESOMAR, the Human Centered Design Organization and the Blockchain Collaborative Consortium.
Founding story
IRI-CT, the corporate entity that became IID, was incorporated on 28 April 2000 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Internet Research Institute. The research-side predecessor had been created in October 1990 as a 100% Nissan Motor subsidiary for design-management consulting grounded in marketing research, and separated from Nissan through a management buyout in 2001; the two were unified under the IID name in June 2010.
Business model
IID builds and acquires vertical online media properties and magazines, monetizing them through advertising, media commerce and paid subscription services, while also selling marketing research, usability/human-centered design consulting and system development services to corporate clients. Growth has come substantially through acquiring media businesses and operating rights from other publishers and through subsidiary and joint-venture formation.
Revenue derives from advertising and commerce on its vertical media sites, magazine and mook publishing, paid subscriptions (for example the Media Innovation subscription launched in 2020), affiliate and e-commerce operations, software distribution, and fee-based marketing research, usability/design consulting and system development engagements.
Traction
Consolidated headcount of 289 including part-time staff as of end-March 2026 (277 as of end-June 2024). Fiscal 2017 (year ended June) revenue was ¥4,399 million with net assets of ¥3,715 million and 4,993,900 shares issued. The portfolio spans dozens of owned or acquired media brands across automotive, gaming, anime, security, education, finance and lifestyle verticals, plus magazine titles.
Latest developments
Recent moves recorded include acquiring NHN SAVAWAY (now SAVAWAY) from NHN Japan in July 2021, making event operator Link a subsidiary in October 2021, starting the Entame Print content-printing service on Sharp multifunction copiers in convenience stores in August 2021, taking on Japanese distribution of FOREX TESTER software and acquiring the nomooo drinks media in 2022, a strategic investment in Technocore with the joint launch of technology media TechnoEdge in May 2022, and the shift from the TSE Mothers market to the Growth market in April 2022. As of end-June 2025 capital stock stood at ¥50,000 thousand, and consolidated employees numbered 289 as of end-March 2026.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
A Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth-listed operator of a vertical media platform combined with marketing research and system development. Reported fiscal-year-ended-June-2017 results were revenue of ¥4,399 million, operating income of ¥87 million, ordinary income of ¥90 million and net income of ¥20 million. Major shareholders as of 31 December 2021 included Excite (14.40%), Hakuhodo DY Media Partners (10.55%), Mynavi (8.15%), SBI Securities (5.12%), T-Gaia (5.09%), Poplar (5.09%), a Dentsu Digital investment partnership (4.08%) and CEO Hiroshi Miyakawa (3.46%). The company was selected in the 10th Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu ranking in 2012.
IID combines a broad portfolio of vertical, category-specific media properties with in-house marketing research, human-centered design and system development capability, running its titles on a proprietary content marketing platform. Its automotive assets pair editorial media with proprietary real-world fuel-economy data and a motor-show photo library.
Technology
IID operates iid-CMP (iid Content Marketing Platform), an in-house content management platform completed in 2009 and first used for the INSIDE gaming site, running on an IPv6-capable private cloud built in 2011 as its system foundation. It also holds fuel-economy analytics data from e-nenpi.com, a standardized motor-show photo library, and co-developed the Mobility Frontier AI engine for mobility applications with Rei-Frontier following a 2016 capital and business alliance.
Go-to-market
The company grows audience reach by launching and acquiring niche media titles and magazine brands, then sells advertising and commerce against them; enterprise research and usability services are sold directly to corporate clients. It also forms capital and business alliances and joint ventures with large partners — including Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings (FASHION HEADLINE), Dentsu (HANJO HANJO), Sony Music Entertainment/M-On Entertainment (Kiraramedia), Fujisan Magazine Service (Idea) and Sharp Marketing Japan (Entame Print) — to distribute content and services.
Corporate marketing, design and product teams buying research, usability and human-centered design services; advertisers and brands seeking audiences on its automotive, gaming, anime, security, education, finance and lifestyle media; consumers and enthusiasts reading its news sites and magazines; and educational institutions reached through its education media and admissions-event businesses.
Geography
Head office and registered address in Nakano-ku, Tokyo, plus a development branch in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture. Historic and international activity includes a US research entity established in 1993, multilingual automotive news site Responsejp.com launched in 2011 in 13 languages, inbound/outbound global research via InterfaceASIA, and a 2019 strategic investment in Cambodia-based offshore development firm BENITEN.
History
The present company traces to two lineages. The predecessor of the operating research business was founded in October 1990 as a wholly owned Nissan Motor subsidiary providing design-management consulting based on marketing research; it set up US research arm Interface in Design, Inc. in 1993, merged Fina Research in 1999, and became independent from Nissan via a management buyout in November 2001. Separately, IRI-CT (株式会社アイ・アール・アイコマースアンドテクノロジー) was established on 28 April 2000 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Internet Research Institute; it acquired the RBB TODAY business in December 2000 and, in 2002, the Auto ASCII automotive news site and the e-nenpi fuel-economy service from Media Leaves, renaming Auto ASCII to Response in 2003. IRI-CT took control of the old IID in 2005 and made it a wholly owned subsidiary by share exchange in 2007; in June 2010 IRI-CT merged that subsidiary and renamed itself IID, Inc. A long series of media acquisitions followed, including ScanNetSecurity and GameBlogRanking (2012), cinemacafe.net (2012), the puzzle-magazine business of Inforest Publishing (2014), 30min. (2014), Tokyo IT Shimbun (2015), and Gakken Plus's anime portfolio including Animedia, Seiyu Animedia and Megami Magazine (2020). The company opened its Matsue development branch in August 2015 and relocated its head office from Shinjuku Sumitomo Building to Harmony Tower in Nakano in January 2021.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 39
launches, deals, and filingsTransferred as part of the Tokyo Stock Exchange's market segment restructuring.
Service enabling printing of assorted content on Sharp multifunction copiers installed in convenience stores nationwide.
Took over Animedia, Seiyu Animedia, Megami Magazine, irregular mook publishing and the web media Cho! Animedia; sales continued to be handled by Gakken Plus.
JV to conduct mail-order commerce using magazine brands.
Third-party allotment through the disposal of treasury stock to T-Gaia and Poplar.
Acquired the regional revitalization support and co-creation local media company Native Inc.
Subscribed to a third-party allotment of Rei-Frontier shares and jointly developed the Mobility Frontier AI engine for mobility.
Agreed a comprehensive business tie-up with Dinos Cecile and transferred the Hoken Gate insurance business.
Announced establishment of joint venture Kiraramedia with M-On Entertainment, a wholly owned Sony Music Entertainment subsidiary.
Ehon Navi became a subsidiary; in December 2020 it was converted to an equity-method affiliate following a share transfer.
Listed on TSE Mothers; the listing was also the exit event for Globis Capital Partners' investment.
The Dentsu Digital Fund, managed by Dentsu Digital Holdings, invested in the company.
Took over the operating rights to the puzzle business and began publishing eight puzzle magazines.
The fund's first deal; DoCoMo Innovation Fund became a shareholder in IID.
Established Fashion Headline Inc. with Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings to run the fashion news site FASHION HEADLINE.
Purchased shares of 株式会社オールアバウトエンファクトリー from All About, making it a subsidiary.
Acquired the GameBlogRanking gamer information site and the ScanNetSecurity internet-security media business.
Purchased all shares of 株式会社ネットセキュリティ総合研究所, making it a wholly owned subsidiary.
Automotive news site made available in 13 languages.
Globis Capital Partners made an initial growth-stage investment in IID, which operates a vertical media platform alongside system development and marketing research.
Took over the operating rights to the automotive news site Auto ASCII and the fuel-economy content service e-nenpi; Auto ASCII was renamed Response in October 2003.
The research-focused predecessor company, founded in 1990 as a wholly owned Nissan Motor subsidiary, became independent through an MBO.
Acquired the RBB TODAY business from Point Five Communications and began operating it.
株式会社アイ・アール・アイコマースアンドテクノロジー (IRI-CT) was incorporated on 28 April 2000; it later merged its IID subsidiary and adopted the IID name.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- 会社概要 | 株式会社イードiid.co.jp · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does IID, Inc. do?
- Tokyo-listed operator of vertical news media, publishing and marketing-research services in Japan.
- Who are IID, Inc.'s investors?
- IID, Inc.'s investors include Globis Capital Partners.