Led by Amazon, Google and Sony also invest, Superplastic raises 2.6 billion yen

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Investments from major IT companies

The largest e-commerce company “Amazon” and the character design studio “Superplastic” announced on the 15th that they will be collaborating in various fields from now on.

This collaboration also includes an investment. Amazon’s venture capital arm, Alexa Fund, has also announced that it has led additional funding for Superplastic’s Series A. Superplastic has raised about 2.6 billion yen ($20 million) in this round, which includes Alexa Fund, Google Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Sony, Kakao, Animoka Brands and others.

This time, Superplastic’s total funding reached about 7.7 billion yen ($58 million). It explains that the funds raised will be used to expand the world of characters.

Today, we announce a collaboration with Amazon that spans investment and a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. The Alexa Fund leads our $20 million Series A-4 investment round & THE @JANKY & @GUGGIMON SHOW has been put into development at Amazon Studios. https://t.co/xV7NN3TcZB pic.twitter.com/iCJxKlFFpX

—SUPERPLASTIC (@SUPERPLASTIC) February 15, 2023

Superplastic develops animated characters, toys and digital collectibles. In the area of crypto assets (virtual currency) and blockchain, the high-end fashion brand “Gucci” attracted attention when it partnered with the company when it released its first NFT (non-fungible token) collection.

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Regarding Amazon, this time it was announced that Superplastic has already signed a contract with “Amazon Studios”. Amazon Studios is producing a show called “The Janky & Guggimon Show” starring Superplastic’s famous characters “Janky” and “Guggimon”.

Janky and Guggimon are each shown in the image of the tweet above. Both have social media accounts, and Guggimon has 1.51 million followers on Instagram.

Janky & Guggimon’s program will be distributed exclusively on Amazon’s “Prime Video” in over 240 countries and regions. The two companies will also be making films featuring other Superplastic characters in the future.

Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund, which specializes in investing in digital technology, commented:

Superplastic’s virtual celebrities can go where their viewers are and delight them.

We see these virtual celebrities as a new kind of IP (intellectual property) that is increasingly relevant to younger generations.

Amazon and Web3

It is not clear whether blockchain technology will be used in this collaboration, but it is reported that Amazon is strengthening its Web3 business while undergoing a large-scale restructuring.

Last month, it was reported that Amazon itself, rather than its cloud division, AWS (Amazon Web Services), could launch a new digital asset business. Targeting April, the business is scheduled to start as early as this spring, and specifically, it is expected that Amazon users will be able to obtain NFTs and play blockchain games.

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According to the report, Amazon is in talks to collaborate with Layer 1 blockchain projects, blockchain game startups, digital asset exchanges and developers for this digital asset business, multiple sources said. muscle revealed.

connection: US Amazon to start new Web3 business NFT service may start in April = report

What is Web3

Also known as the “Next Generation Internet,” it refers to a decentralized network based on blockchain. Specifically, it includes NFT and virtual currency.

The early Internet, in which the flow of information was one-way, is called “Web1”, and the current centralized Internet is called “Web2”.

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