facility, Rakuten Blockchain Lab, based in Belfast that will explore the potential of the blockchain. In April 2017, Rakuten invested US$2.4 million in Singapore-based MetroResidences, which allows homeowners to rent their properties out to companies and corporate tenants. In January 2018, the Group purchased Asahi Fire and Marine from Japanese bank Nomura for an estimated 45 billion yen. This will be the first foray for Rakuten into the general insurance market, and Asahi will become a wholly owned subsidiary. The company provides fire, automotive and accident insurance to consumer and corporate clients. In June 2018, Rakuten purchased Palo Alto based retail pickup startup, Curbside Inc. In October 2018, CafeX Communications announced that Rakuten Communications Corp., the telecommunications company within Japan-based Rakuten Group, has launched 'Connect Live', a cloud service powered by CafeX that enables business users to collaborate more easily in web browsers and mobile devices. Employees, customers and online visitors can simply click a link in a web browser to connect without needing to download new software or step through a sign-in process. Attendees can also join from mobile devices too. In December 2019, Rakuten was reportedly selling OverDrive to private equity investment firm KKR. The price of the sale was not disclosed, though Rakuten said it would recognize about $365.6 million in profit from the sale in the first quarter of 2020. OverDrive's purchase from Rakuten was engineered by KKR’s Richard Sarnoff, a one-time executive at Random House who also was president of Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments until leaving for KKR in 2011. In February 2020, Rakuten Marketing was rebranded as Rakuten Advertising. That month, Rakuten also sold its US$1.4 billion worth of stakes in various tech companies, including its entire shares in Pinterest. In November 2020, Rakuten teamed up with KKR to acquire 85% of Seiyu, the Japanese nationwide retail chain owned by Walmart. Sponsorship Vissel Kobe Golden State Warriors Davis Cup Football Club of Barcelona Corporate Culture In 2010 the founder and CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani, mandated that all business, from official meetings to internal emails, be written in English. Corporate officers that do not become proficient in English in two years were to be fired. At the time, only an estimated 10% of the Japanese staff could function in English, with the mandate facing criticism from other CEOs at the time. Rakuten introduced the English-only policy, dubbed "Englishnization," as part of Mr Mikitani's push to "globalize"