South Korea’s Yello Mobile, a “mobile lifestyle solutions provider” with around 26 apps, received a $30 million investment from Japanese financial group SBI Holdings (SBIH).

The new funding will support investment in Yello Mobile’s “core mobile media and platform businesses and accelerate the company’s growth” in Asia.

The two companies announced a strategic partnership at the end of last year.

In a statement, Yello Mobile said it will also benefit from SBIH’s global business network and resources to support its business development efforts in Japan and Southeast Asia, while SBIH wants to use Yello Mobile’s strong market position and digital marketing expertise to expand its business in Korea.

Founded in 2012, Yello Mobile operates “the largest ecosystem” of mobile platforms, apps and services spanning online shopping, media content, advertising/digital marketing and online-to-offline, it claimed.

Lee Sang Hyuk, founder and CEO of Yello Mobile, said, “SBIH’s financial support and global business network will be valuable assets to Yello Mobile as we continue to expand our geographic reach”, adding that the company is “focused on driving sustainable growth and profitability”.

In December last year, Yello raised $43 million, in a round said to value it at around $4 billion.

At the time, it said it has a combined user base of more than 18 million monthly active users in South Korea, around one-third of the country’s population.