News aggregator app SmartNews had a tough 2023, beginning with widespread layoffs in January and wrapping up with a leadership change that saw co-founder Kaisei Hamamoto assume the role of CEO after the abrupt departure of former CEO Ken Suzuki last month. Founded in 2012 in Japan, the company arrived in the U.S. in 2014 and expanded its local news footprint in early 2020 to cover thousands of U.S. cities. At a time when big mobile platforms like Apple and Google were both squaring up to provide their own virtual newsstands for their mobile and tablet users, and social media platforms were making big plays to become news providers themselves to take on some of the advertising and traffic that traditionally was the domain of publishers, SmartNews entered the fray with its own take on the medium: It would source news by partnering with publishers; build algorithms aimed at tailoring more personalized feeds for users; deliver the news in a zippy, AMP-style streamlined format; and sell advertising against its traffic to generate revenue.