HK firm Animoca Brands expands business in Japan

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Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based company driving digital property rights via NFTs and parent company of The Sandbox, has begun its operations in Japan, which has completed a raise of ¥1.1 billion (approximately US$10 million) of funding in its seed round.

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 NFTs and fungible tokens and participation in the broader Web3 ecosystem. 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 (approximately US$10 million). 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.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “Japanese intellectual property 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.”

Recently Animoca Brands' decentralised gaming virtual world and subsidiary, The Sandbox, added eight partners in Hong Kong to create its cultural hub Mega City. The partners are from the film, music, entertainment, acting, professional services, finance, real estate, and gaming sectors. Partners who acquired LAND NFTs to build Mega City in The Sandbox’s metaverse include Hong Kong tycoon Adrian Cheng, alternative investing leader Sun Hung Kai & Co, professional services firm PwC Hong Kong, blockchain-related investment and asset management company TIMES CAPITAL, director, producer and actor Stephen Fung and international star Shu Qi, renowned musician Dough-Boy, game IP Little Fighter, and local illustrator Dreamergo.

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