TOKYO – November 27, 2023 – Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Nao Udagawa) announced today that Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund, a fund to invest in startups, has decided to invest in two companies based in the United States, Flickplay Inc. ("Flickplay") and Code Charm, Inc. ("Code Charm").
Under Bandai Namco Group’s Purpose "Fun for All into the Future" and the vision for the Mid-term Plan (April 2022 - March 2025) "Connect with Fans," Bandai Namco will create new ways to connect with the fans so that IPs (intellectual properties such as characters) are leveraged and deep, broad, multifaceted relationships with our partners, Group employees, societies, and IP fans around the world are fostered.
Flickplay provides a service that allows users to purchase digital toys from the company’s stores or stores on the map based on the user’s location data. In addition, users can play minigames that are based off the purchased digital toys and the toys can also be used as augmented reality in pictures and videos. The company is aiming to foster fan communities centered around digital toys by enabling the aforementioned contents to be shared on social media to promote communication between players.
Code Charm is the provider of "Magma", a cloud-based collaboration tool that enables multiple creators to smoothly communicate with each other and simultaneously work on creative projects. In addition, Magma aims to nurture the creator community by providing a place for creators to find jobs and showcase/trade their works.
Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund aims to enhance the existing entertainment business and create the next generation of the entertainment business. Companies that provide services or technologies that boost community engagement are one of the major targets for investment. It will be the third time investing in American companies this year, as Bandai Namco Entertainment is actively pursuing investment in both Japan and overseas.
Through this investment along with the investment announced in October for GGWP Inc., a company that delivers service utilizing AI-based moderation technology to create a safe and positive environment for games and their players, Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund aims to fulfill its vision of a future where fans can come and go between the physical and digital space, with entertainment being more interconnected to their daily lives.
Overviews of companies:
Head Office: California, U.S.A.
Representative: Pierina Merino, CEO
Company URL: https://www.flickplay.co/
Main Business: Creators of Magma Studio. Delivering solutions which transform the way people work and empower them through effective collaboration.
Head Office: Texas, U.S.A.
Representative: Damian Kaczmarek, CEO
Company URL: https://codecharm.io/
Main Business: GGWP, founded by games and media veterans, is an artificial intelligence-based platform to help combat toxicity in online games.
Head Office: California, U.S.A.
Representative: Dennis Fong, Co-founder & CEO
Company URL: https://www.ggwp.com/
About Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund
Main Investment Areas: Startups in Japan and overseas that provide entertainment-related products, promote UGC and CtoC, or deliver services or technologies that engage the community, are AI-related, related to Web3 content, or seamlessly connect the digital and physical space.
Target Stages: Companies in a wide range of growth stages from pre-seed to later stages
Fund Size: Approximately 1 billion yen per year (3 billion yen over 3 years)
Ticket Size: Around 10 to 500 million yen
Official Website: https://021fund.bn-ent.net/ (Japanese)
https://021fund.bn-ent.net/en/ (English)
Under the Bandai Namco Group's Purpose "Fun for All into the Future," Bandai Namco Entertainment is working to create a brighter future for everyone around the world by connecting people and societies through the enjoyment of entertainment.
# # #