The story
2000 - Sumitomo and W. W. Grainger, Inc. founded a company as joint venture in Japan
2001 - Website launch, which began and nationwide sales
2004 - Start selling private label (MonotaRO, Otokomae-MonotaRO, and Osaka-Spirit)
2006 - Launch IHC MonotaRO, targeting private use customers
2006 - Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
2009 - W. W. Grainger, Inc. acquired a majority ownership of the company
2013 - Started service in Singapore
2014 - Started service in Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia
From Wikipedia’s article on MonotaRO, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5