- Animoca Brands has partnered with Ibex Japan to launch a Web3 entertainment fund aimed at bringing dormant anime and manga intellectual property (IP) onto the blockchain.
- The fund plans to leverage Ibex’s network to license and finance new Web3 products, revitalising what Ibex Japan partner Sandeep Casi calls the “90% to 99% of Japan’s IP” that is currently unused.
- The initiative seeks to tap into the growing global anime market and the recent resurgence of NFTs, which have been fueled by a rise in the price of Ethereum.
Hong Kong-based game software company, Animoca Brands, recently partnered with Ibex Japan to launch a Web3 entertainment investment fund aimed at moving Japan’s dormant anime and manga IP into blockchain-based platforms.
The initiative was unveiled Tuesday at the WebX conference in Tokyo, where Animoca’s co-founder and chairman Yat Siu, senior adviser Keyvan Peymani, and Ibex Japan partner Sandeep Casi detailed the project.
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Casi said that “90 % to 99 % of Japan’s IP is lying dormant on the shelves and has great value”. He pointed to Antler’s footprint across 22 cities, its US$1.2 billion (AU$1.82 billion) in assets under management, and a global network of 250.000 entrepreneurs as leverage to scale the effort internationally.
Revitalising The Anime Industry
The global anime market is currently valued at US$34B (AU$51B) and is projected to expand to US$70 billion (AU$106.4B) by 2032, driven by digital-first distribution and, potentially, new consumption channels such as blockchain technology.
Anime and manga NFTs in particular have found traction with younger demographics worldwide. What’s more, NFTs have staged a comeback (at least for now); as of August 2025, the total NFT market capitalisation stood at US$9,3 billion (AU$14,14 billion), a 40 % increase from July, according to data from NFT Price Floor. This surge was mainly driven by Ethereum’s price surge in the last couple of weeks, hitting an all-time high of US$4,953 (AU$7,627).
Casi and Peymani will serve as co-general partners of the fund, with plans to license underused Japanese franchises and finance new Web3 products. The initial investment targets are expected to be announced in the coming months.
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