Singapore-based anime startup BlockPunk raises US$957K seed funding round
Singapore-based anime tech startup BlockPunk today announced a S$1.3 million (US$957,000) seed funding round led by seed-stage venture firm SeedPlus.
The round was joined by SGInnovate, Hustle Fund, Entrepreneur First and Japanese printing giant Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd with whom the startup has a strategic partnership.
In a press statement, the startup said that the funds will be used to expand its engineering team and develop product.
BlockPunk is a platform that enables creators to turn their digital artwork into “scarce” collectible merchandise.
The platform uses blockchain to create proof of authenticity and a new source of income for creators.
It was founded with the mission to make anime merchandises more accessible to global fans.
“Anime merchandise supply is broken. Fans want to consume merchandise globally as soon as the anime is streamed online but merchandise is rarely available due to fragmentation and supply chain issues. Unlicensed products have become the norm to match this demand. Our solution allows any creator to instantly create official collectible merchandise that is available worldwide,” said BlockPunk co-founder Julian Lai-Hung.
“With our strategic partnership with Dai Nippon Printing, a US$14 billion revenue world leader in printing technologies, we will extend our technology to physical merchandise in addition to digital,” he continued.
Co-Founders Julian Lai-Hung was the former head of anime at Netflix while Jatin Shah has a Yale PhD in computer science and was a product manager at LinkedIn.
By far, content creators such as Ishimori Pro (Cyborg009), Kazuto Nakazawa (Kill Bill, B the Beginning) and Zunda Horizon (Tohoku Zunko) are already live in the platform with more in the pipeline.
SeedPlus Managing Partner Michael Smith said that the firm is interested in investing in BlockPunk as it enables “new level of transparency” as well as “efficiency in protecting creator and owner IP rights.”