# Rakuten Group

> Rakuten Group is a Tokyo-based internet conglomerate that runs more than 70 services - a giant online marketplace, a bank, a credit card, a mobile carrier, an e-reader and a messaging app - all stitched together by one login and one loyalty currency, Rakuten Points. Founded in 1997 with six people and 13 merchants, it now serves roughly 2 billion members worldwide and books around 2.3 trillion yen in annual revenue.

- **Founded:** 1997
- **Headquarters:** Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
- **Founders:** Hiroshi Mikitani (Founder, Chairman & CEO)
- **Team size:** ~30,000+ employees
- **Products:** Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Points, Rakuten Card, Rakuten Bank & Rakuten Securities, Rakuten Kobo
- **Notable:** Grew from 6 employees and 13 merchants in 1997 to roughly 2 billion members worldwide, Reportedly achieved 28 consecutive years of revenue growth, reaching ~2.3 trillion yen in FY2024, Built Japan's fourth mobile carrier on a fully virtualized, cloud-native Open RAN network

## Products & services

- **Rakuten Ichiba** — Japan's flagship online shopping mall - a marketplace where third-party merchants keep their own storefronts and brand, and Rakuten earns listing, monthly and commission fees.
- **Rakuten Points** — The loyalty currency that ties the ecosystem together; members earn and spend points across shopping, banking, mobile, travel and more, functioning like cash within Rakuten services.
- **Rakuten Card** — One of Japan's most widely held credit cards and a core engine of the fintech segment.
- **Rakuten Bank & Rakuten Securities** — Online banking and brokerage services that keep members' finances inside the ecosystem.
- **Rakuten Kobo** — Global e-book and e-reader platform, headquartered in Toronto, acquired in 2012.
- **Rakuten Viber** — Cross-platform messaging and calling app with a large global user base, acquired in 2014.
- **Rakuten Rewards (formerly Ebates)** — Cashback and shopping-rewards platform serving the U.S. market.
- **Rakuten Mobile** — Japan's fourth mobile network operator, built on a fully virtualized, cloud-native Open RAN architecture; reached its first EBITDA profit in FY2025 with 10M+ subscribers.
- **Rakuten Symphony** — The telecom arm that packages Rakuten's cloud-native network software - Open RAN, the RIC platform, Symware and automation tools - and sells it to carriers worldwide.

## Achievements

- Grew from 6 employees and 13 merchants in 1997 to roughly 2 billion members worldwide
- Reportedly achieved 28 consecutive years of revenue growth, reaching ~2.3 trillion yen in FY2024
- Built Japan's fourth mobile carrier on a fully virtualized, cloud-native Open RAN network
- Rakuten Mobile reached its first full-year EBITDA profit in FY2025 with 10M+ subscribers
- Deployed one of the world's first nationwide RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) platforms in a commercial Open RAN network
- Turned in-house telecom software into an export business via Rakuten Symphony

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony announced a world-first nationwide deployment of Open RAN-aligned, third-party rApps on their RIC platform.
- **2025-07** — Rakuten Mobile expanded its Open RAN 5G network with 1Finity radios.
- **2025-06** — Rakuten Symphony and MobiFone signed an MoU to pilot Open RAN in Vietnam.
- **2025-05** — Rakuten Symphony and Rakuten Mobile deployed an AI-powered RIC platform nationwide, targeting up to 20% network energy savings.
- **2025-02** — Rakuten reported FY2024 revenue of ~2.3 trillion yen, up ~10% year-on-year, with sharply improved operating income.

## Links

- Website: https://global.rakuten.com/corp/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/rakuten
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rakutenus
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RakutenGroup
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rakuten/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/rakuten/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rakuten
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-14