Animoca Brands Japan begins operations, bags seed round of $10M

Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming firm Animoca Brands announced Tuesday it has begun operations in Japan with the launch of its strategic subsidiary Animoca Brands KK (Animoca Brands Japan), which has completed a raise of ¥1.1 billion ($10 million) of funding in its seed round.

Animoca Brands said in a statement that Animoca Brands Japan is building a platform based on blockchain technology to enable intellectual property (IP) holders in Japan to build and expand fan communities via the issue of their own non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and fungible tokens and participation in the broader Web3 ecosystem.

It said that Animoca Brands Japan will work with global professionals to help Japanese IP holders branch out into international markets.

In January 2022, Animoca Brands Japan closed a seed round of ¥1.1 billion ($10 million) from MCP IPX One Fund, which was established by MCP Asset Management and Animoca Brands.

MCP IPX One Fund’s investors include Kodansha Ltd., Nishi-Nippon Railroad, as well as institutional investors from Japan and overseas including Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited.

Animoca Brands Japan will use the new capital to expand its business in Japan with the goal to enhance the reach of Japanese IP globally.

Animoca Brands Japan is based in Tokyo’s Minato Ward and led by representative director Motoki Tani. Before being named representative director for Animoca Brands Japan, Motoki was managing director and senior portfolio manager of Millennium Capital Management, where he was responsible for Japan Macro Strategy Investment. Prior to joining Millennium Capital Management, Motoki headed Yen Bond Trading at JP Morgan.

“Japanese IP includes a wealth of high-quality and appealing content. We are excited to establish Animoca Brands Japan and deeply honored to bring on institutional capital from the world’s most influential names in global Japanese culture, such as Kodansha and others. Our Japanese division will focus on partnering with IP owners in Japan to enable them to offer new Web3 products and services in the open metaverse,” said Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands.

Animoca Brands is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification. It develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games including The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes; and products utilizing popular intellectual properties including Formula 1®, Disney, WWE, Power Rangers, MotoGP, and Doraemon.

The company has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Bondly, and Lympo. Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 150 investments in NFT-related companies and decentralized projects that are contributing to building the open metaverse, including Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), Yield Guild Games, Harmony, Alien Worlds, Star Atlas, and others.

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