Animoca Brands Japan invests JP¥150M in LMI GROUP Inc.
30 March 2023 - Animoca Brands Japan, a strategic subsidiary of Animoca Brands Corporation Limited ("Animoca Brands"), today announced that it has invested JP¥150 million into LMI GROUP Inc. ("LMI"). The investment will assist LMI to accelerate its growth and expand its reach in the retail media sector in Japan.
LMI, whose predecessor company was founded in 1987, provides and develops various types of solutions for retail companies, utilizing its long experience in both physical and virtual shop design. In recent years, LMI has been reflecting online customer data collection/utilization to offline real shops and has been engaged in maximizing value to space by use of real world data in commercial/life space.
As the post-COVID recovery accelerates, the retail media sector is expected to grow in Japan and around the world. Animoca Brands Japan believes that LMI’s knowledge of and experience in the retail space make it a valuable partner to create new value and contribute to the overall development of the retail industry, leveraging LMI’s capabilities and network as a leading solution provider in this field.
Kyoya Okazawa, Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Animoca Brands Japan, commented: “We are grateful for this investment opportunity into LMI, who has established itself as a leading promoter of Digital Transformation (DX) in the retail sector, and is now eyeing an IPO. Synergies with the Animoca Brands ecosystem will be identified to help LMI to promote ways to reinvigorate the retail sector. We believe that Web3 can contribute enormously to productivity in Japan’s retail sector, leading to job creation and wage increases, and we look forward to exploring all these opportunities together.”
Shunsuke Nagai, President of LMI Group Inc, commented: “We are greatly honored to have Animoca Brands invest in us. We have reason to believe that real-world retail data underestimates the recovery of the retail industry, and the rediscovery and utilization of that value could create new possibilities for the retail industry and connect improved productivity with wage increases. We will apply the considerable Web3 expertise of Animoca Brands to the retail industry, and we look forward to the innovations that we will create together. Our focus will be on generation Z, leveraging NFT, blockchain technologies, and community to increase engagement and consumption in the retail sector. We are thrilled at the opportunity to build a strong partnership with Animoca Brands as we seek to deliver new value to Japanese society.”
In photo from left to right: Kyoya Okazawa, Co-Founder and COO of Animoca Brands Japan; Shunsuke Nagai, President of LMI Group; Ryuta Mochida, Vice President of LMI Group
About LMI Group
LMI is an innovator team of professionals with various strengths in multiple areas, aiming for higher growth of each marketplace and expansion of the overall industry and its engagement with consumers. We aim to create new value for all consumers by utilizing real world data in the areas of commercial space and life space.
Company Name: LMI GROUP Inc.
Office Address: 8-10-22 Akasaka, Minato-ward, Tokyo, Japan
Representative: Shunsuke Nagai
Business Description: Commercial and life space business
Established: August 1st, 2019
Homepage: https://lmig.co.jp
About Animoca Brands Japan
Founded in 2021, Animoca Brands Japan (corporate name: Animoca Brands K.K.) is the strategic subsidiary in Japan of Animoca Brands Corporation Limited, a leading global Web3 company. Animoca Brands Japan was established to support the global Web3 strategies of Japanese intellectual property and content holders such as major publishers, brands, education, sports teams, athletes, artists and game companies. Animoca Brands Japan provides a platform that combines IPs with blockchain technology, and supports IP holders to build their own ecosystem through a full stack of Web3 services, providing a bridge between Japanese IPs and global fans. For more information, please visit https://www.animocabrands.co.jp.
Company Name: Animoca Brands K.K.
Office Address: 3-13-7 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ward, Tokyo, Japan
Representative: Motoki Tani
Business Description: Provision of Web3 platform construction services using blockchain NFT
Established: October 25th, 2021
Homepage: https://www.animocabrands.co.jp
Contact: pr-abkk@animocabrands.com
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner and ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2023, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification that is working to advance digital property rights and contribute to the establishment of the open metaverse. The company 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 Disney, WWE, Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Formula E. It has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Forj, Lympo, Animoca Brands Japan, Grease Monkey Games, Eden Games, Darewise Entertainment, Notre Game, TinyTap, Be Media, PIXELYNX, and WePlay Media. Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 380 Web3 investments, including Colossal, Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), Yield Guild Games, Harmony, Alien Worlds, Star Atlas, and others. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.
Contact: press@animocabrands.com