Japanese mobile social games company DeNA made a strategic investment in VCNC, the South Korean developer behind the social networking app Between.

DeNA will form a business alliance with VCNC to help it monetise Between more effectively and to evolve the platform for third-party services.

Between provides a secure space for couples to send text messages and virtual stickers, and share anniversaries, schedules and photos.

The free iOS and Andriod app has been downloaded more than five million times as of December last year and is available in English, Korean, Chinese and Japanese.

DeNA said it plans to continue making investments in early and middle-stage online start-ups “that have the potential to make a major impact on the world”.

Financial details of the deal were not made public.

DeNA saw a 20 per cent year-on-year decline in revenue for its fiscal third quarter while profit for the period was JPY7.7 billion, down 35 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier.