Justin Yoshimura
Born1990 (age 33–34)
Torrance, CA
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Founder, 500 Friends
Chairman, Ice.com
Chairman, DirectBuy
Founder & CEO, CSC Generation
Years active2004–present

Justin Yoshimura (born 1990)[1] is an American technology entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of the holding company CSC Generation.

Early life

Yoshimura was raised in Palos Verdes Estates, California.[2] As a student at Palos Verdes High School, he launched CellsWholesale.com, an online marketplace for cell phones. In its first year, the business generated $1 million in revenue, and he dropped out of high school in his junior year to run the business full-time. He sold it in 2008.[1][2][3]

Career

In 2010, Yoshimura founded 500friends, a cloud-based platform providing loyalty and other incentive programs for e-commerce companies. It was launched in 2011, and backed by Y Combinator, with Yoshimura as CEO.[4][5] In March 2012, 500friends raised $4.5 million in Series A financing, led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from Intel Capital, with Yoshimura becoming the youngest entrepreneur Crosslink and Intel had backed at the time.[1][4] In March 2013, 500friends raised $5 million in Series B financing, led by Intel Capital and Fung Capital, bringing its total funding to $12 million.[6] 500friends was acquired by data marketing firm Merkle Inc. in November 2014, and Yoshimura was named Merkle's senior vice president of loyalty.[7][8][9]

In 2014, Yoshimura founded CSC Generation, and purchased the domain name Ice.com, converting it into an online jewelry marketplace.[7][10] He then acquired several other e-commerce marketplaces, including DirectBuy, in February 2017.[11] In 2017, CSC Generation generated $150 million in sales.[7] CSC is backed by Chinese private equity firm China Science & Merchants Capital Management and Khosla Ventures.[7][12] In 2018, the Ice.com name was sold.[13] In 2021, CSC Generation purchased Amerimark Holdings which owned three companies: AmeriMark Direct, Dr. Leonard's Healthcare, and LTD Commodities. In early 2023, Amerimark Interactive declared bankruptcy and terminated the employment of over 600 employees.[14][15] In October 2023, DirectBuy declared bankruptcy and will likely close all 21 remaining stores and layoff 250 people.[16][17][18][19]

Yoshimura also invests in early stage startups,[20] including the media company MACRO,[21] and technology companies Zencoder,[22] Hipmunk,[22] and Bounce Exchange.[23] Hipmunk has since shut down.[24] In 2011, he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Social/Mobile category.[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Zoran Basich, "500friends' Founder Has Come A Long Way From The Lemonade Stand," Wall Street Journal, March 19, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Jordan England-Nelson, "Palos Verdes High dropout-turned-millionaire Justin Yoshimura helps Loyola Marymount entrepreneurs," Daily Breeze, October 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ Ben Muessig, "What can you learn from tech CEO and high school dropout Justin Yoshimura?" San Francisco Chronicle, May 28, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Sarah Perez, "500Friends Raises $4.5M Series A For Its Social Loyalty Platform," TechCrunch, March 14, 2012.
  5. ↑ Paul Spiegelman, "How CEOs Can Personally Recruit Top Talent," Inc., November 28, 2012.
  6. ↑ Anthony Ha, "500friends Raises $5M To Bring Its Online Loyalty Programs To Physical Stores," TechCrunch, March 12, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Tomio Geron, "CSC Generation Turns Ecommerce Sites into Product Leasing," Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2017.
  8. ↑ Phil Britt, "2015 40Under40 Winner: Justin Yoshimura," DMNews.com, September 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ Anthony Ha, "Merkle Acquires Loyalty Startup 500friends," TechCrunch, November 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ Sarah Perez, "Ice.com's New Owners Raise $2 Million To Bring Fair Pricing To The Jewelry Industry," TechCrunch, January 21, 2016.
  11. ↑ Joseph S. Pete, "Chinese firm acquires Merrillville's DirectBuy," The Times of Northwest Indiana, February 17, 2017.
  12. ↑ Clint Engel, "Private equity buy allows DirectBuy to rebuild," Furniture Today, March 27, 2017.
  13. ↑ Ice. "Ice Announces the Sale of the Ice.com Domain and a New Address". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  14. ↑ "Retailer AmeriMark Files for Bankruptcy". MSN. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  15. ↑ Sean McDonnell, cleveland com (2023-04-11). "Middleburg Heights-based catalog company AmeriMark files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection". cleveland. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  16. ↑ "Z Gallerie files for Chapter 11; looks for buyer". Furniture Today. 2023-10-17. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  17. ↑ "Home-Decor Seller Z Gallerie Goes Bankrupt for Third Time". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  18. ↑ Esposito, Alicia (2023-10-24). "Z Gallerie Files for Bankruptcy Again, Looks for Buyer". Retail TouchPoints. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  19. ↑ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  20. ↑ Katie Benner, "Start-Ups Once Showered With Cash Now Have to Work for It," New York Times, May 20, 2016.
  21. ↑ James Rainey, "Apple Heiress Laurene Powell Jobs Leads Investors in Charles King's MACRO," Variety, September 2, 2015.
  22. 1 2 Tomio Geron, "500Friends Raises $4.5 Million Series A For Social Loyalty," Forbes, March 15, 2012.
  23. ↑ Christine Magee, "BounceX Raises $6.5M To Make Advertising Less Obnoxious," Tech Crunch, August 10, 2015.
  24. ↑ Kumparak, Greg (2020-01-14). "Four years after being acquired, Hipmunk is shutting down". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  25. ↑ Elizabeth Woyke, "30 Under 30: Social/Mobile," Forbes, December 19, 2011.
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