Anime Licensing Platform AniBiz Gets $6 Million Investment From Japan’s TBS Group, Toei Animation and TV Tokyo Holdings

Nakama, the start-up behind anime licensing platform AniBiz.com, has raised an initial $6 million in funding from three of Japan’s top anime licensors: TBS Group, Toei Animation and TV Tokyo Holdings.

AniBiz was launched in July by Crunchyroll founder Kun Gao along with former Crunchyroll execs Brady McCollum and Sae Whan Song.

The site now hosts more than 30 anime licensors, up from 20 at launch. Newly joined rights holders include ABC Animation, DMM.com, docomo Anime Store, Genco, GREE Entertainment, Shochiku, ShoPro, Sola Entertainment and more. They join launch partners such as ADK Emotions, Avex Pictures, CyberAgent, Dentsu Anime Solutions, DNP, FCC, Furyu Pictures, Hakuhodo DY MAP, Imagica, MBS, Pony Canyon, TAKARATOMY, TOHO Global, TV Asahi, YTE and others.

Nakama says AniBiz is the first dedicated business-to-business marketplace built for the global anime industry. The platform provides a centralized and secure environment for global buyers to access anime IP and connect with anime rights holders.

“When the companies that create and license anime’s biggest IP invest in a platform, it says this is where the industry does business,” Brady McCollum, co-founder and CEO of Nakama, said in a statement. “This investment further solidifies AniBiz.com as the official gateway for global anime licensing and collaboration.”

“Toei Animation has spent nearly 70 years building characters that are loved around the world,” said Masayuki Endo, senior executive officer and deputy head of sales and planning headquarter of Toei Animation Co. Ltd. “Protecting that IP while opening it to new partners requires the right infrastructure. We believe AniBiz is that infrastructure, and we are investing to help it become the industry standard.”

TV Tokyo Holdings senior managing director Toshiyuki Hiraoka commented, “This partnership will maximize the global value of anime IP and expand our licensee network across markets worldwide.”

AniBiz is open to any company interested in licensing anime and “no existing anime industry relationships are needed,” according to Nakana.

“Access to anime IP should not depend on who you know,” said Sae Whan Song, co-founder
and head of business development at Nakana. “With the industry’s leading licensors on one platform,
every company in the world now has an official way in. The only question is which IP to license
first.”