Rakuten Group, Inc. (Japanese: 楽天グループ株式会社, Rakuten Gurūpu Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese multinational technology and internet conglomerate founded in 1997 by Hiroshi Mikitani. The company is known as one of the pioneers of e-commerce in the world with a B2B2C online marketplace model that empowers small and medium-sized merchants. Headquartered at Rakuten Crimson House, Setagaya, Tokyo, Rakuten has grown into one of the world's largest digital ecosystems, with more than 70 interconnected services used by around 2.1 billion members globally. The name "Rakuten" itself represents a philosophy of optimism, reflected in a spirit of innovation and the empowerment of society through technology.
History and Development
Founding and the E-commerce Era
Rakuten was founded on February 7, 1997 under the name MDM, Inc., and officially launched the Rakuten Ichiba online marketplace in May of the same year. At a time when many still doubted the potential of online shopping, Rakuten Ichiba began operations with only 6 employees, 1 server, and 13 shops. Its initial vision was to empower small and medium-sized entrepreneurs so they could develop their businesses nationally through the internet.
The company conducted an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Japan's OTC market in April 2000, which became the foundation for aggressive expansion through acquisitions and business diversification. In 2001, Rakuten launched Rakuten Travel, which later became one of the leading online travel reservation services in Japan.
The Introduction of Points and the Ecosystem
In 2002, Rakuten introduced the Rakuten Points loyalty program, which allowed users to collect and use points across various services. This innovation became the foundation of the "Rakuten Ecosystem," a unique business model in which various services—ranging from shopping and finance to digital content—are connected through a single member ID, encouraging cross-service engagement and maximizing customer lifetime value.
Global Expansion and Diversification
Entering 2010, Rakuten officially transformed itself into a global company. Strategic steps taken included adopting English as the official company language ("Englishnization") to facilitate international collaboration and carrying out a series of major acquisitions.
From 2010 to 2012, Rakuten acquired a number of companies to expand its global reach. The acquisitions of PriceMinister (now Rakuten France) and Buy.com (now Rakuten.com) strengthened its position in the European and United States e-commerce markets. The acquisition of Canada's Kobo Inc. in 2012 marked Rakuten's entry into the global e-book business, which later became Rakuten Kobo. Expansion also reached Asia, with Taiwan becoming the first country outside Japan for Rakuten's e-commerce operations in 2008.
Business Structure and Ecosystem
Rakuten operates a business model called the "Rakuten Ecosystem," in which more than 70 services across various sectors are integrated through unified membership. A single Rakuten account allows users to access various services, collect, and spend Rakuten Points, creating a mutually beneficial growth cycle. This ecosystem covers three main business segments: Internet Services, FinTech, and Mobile.
Internet Services
The Internet Services segment is the heart of Rakuten's business, covering e-commerce, travel, digital content, advertising, and professional sports services. Rakuten Ichiba remains the backbone, with gross merchandise value continuing to reach record highs, surpassing 6.3 trillion yen in fiscal year 2025. Other flagship services include Rakuten Travel and Rakuten Books, as well as global digital content platforms such as Rakuten Viki (video streaming), Rakuten TV (an AVOD service), and Rakuten Kobo (e-books). The advertising business has also grown significantly thanks to artificial intelligence (AI)–based optimization through the Rakuten Promotion Platform.
FinTech
The FinTech segment is one of Rakuten's largest growth drivers, providing comprehensive digital financial services. These services include credit cards (Rakuten Card), banking (Rakuten Bank, including Rakuten International Bank in Taiwan), securities (Rakuten Securities), insurance, and electronic payments (Rakuten Pay). In the first quarter of 2026, Rakuten Card recorded shopping transaction value of 6.8 trillion yen, while Rakuten Bank surpassed 18 million customer accounts, and Rakuten Securities recorded more than 13.87 million securities accounts.
Mobile
Rakuten Mobile is the fourth-largest mobile network operator (MNO) in Japan, officially entering this business in 2019. The service offers a fully virtual, cloud-based 5G network, a technological breakthrough developed internally. By the end of 2025, the number of Rakuten Mobile subscribers surpassed 10 million, and in the first quarter of 2026, this segment succeeded in recording positive EBITDA profit for the first time, marking an important achievement on the path toward full profitability. The technology developed for Rakuten Mobile is also commercialized globally through Rakuten Symphony, which provides Open RAN and cloud-native network solutions to other telecommunications operators.
Recent Performance and Strategic Initiatives
Financial Achievements
In fiscal year 2025, Rakuten Group recorded consolidated revenue of 2.5 trillion yen, an increase of 9.5% compared with the previous year, and succeeded in posting IFRS operating profit of 14.4 billion yen. This momentum continued in the first quarter of 2026, in which consolidated revenue reached a record high for a first quarter, namely 643.6 billion yen, up 14.4% year on year. For the first time since entering the MNO business in 2019, Rakuten recorded IFRS operating profit in the first quarter, indicating meaningful progress toward the target of full-year profitability in fiscal year 2026.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Rakuten places artificial intelligence as one of the main pillars of its long-term growth strategy. The company is developing a proprietary large language model (LLM) named Rakuten AI 3.0 with around 700 billion parameters, designed to improve customer experience and operational efficiency across the ecosystem. Rakuten has launched more than 70 AI-powered services and plans to integrate AI agents into more than 50 services. Its long-term vision is to create an integrated "Super App" supported by a voice interface and an intelligent AI assistant that can help users complete various complex transactions.
References
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