“YGG Japan” announces that it has completed a private placement of new shares for approximately US$2.95 million.
(ForN; headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Tetsuya Fujiwara, CEO; hereinafter “ForN”) announced today that YGG Japan, a blockchain game platformer in partnership with ForN, has completed a private round of fundraising worth approximately 2.95 million U.S. dollars from a total of 18 companies. With this round of funding, YGG Japan has raised a cumulative total of approximately 5.75 million U.S. dollars.
Partners and Investors
YGG and YGG Japan
YGG Japan is a blockchain game platformer that aims to lead Japanese game users beyond “Play to Earn” to the world of “Play and Earn” and operates the blockchain game platform “GabeeTown”.
We are also building relationships with relevant partners to support Japanese game companies to launch their blockchain games to the world.
YGG Japan’s Co-Founder, YGG (Yield Guild Games), is the world’s largest DAO-type gaming guild that provides NFT (Non Fungible Token) for blockchain games, with over 80 game and infrastructure partners, and 8 regions across its subDAO network.
Many global IPs have been created in Japan and many gaming companies are respected around the world. YGG Japan and the YGG Group will do its utmost to support the global expansion of Japanese content, which has a world-class gaming culture.
Background of Fundraising
YGG Japan believes that in order to realize its vision of a “Play and Earn” world, the establishment of an environment for end-users in the Japanese NFT and blockchain game market is a top priority.
The current learning cost for many Japanese game users, who are web3 novices, to participate in NFT and blockchain games is very high.
In addition, the reality is that there is sometimes scam-like information in the market.
YGG Japan will promote the development of tools and the construction of an environment for mass adoption, such as “GabeeTown,” whose media functions are currently being released as an alpha version, so that many game users can safely and securely play web3 games, which are expected to expand in the future and produce “professional gamers”.
Recruitment, Product development/MKT, Promotion
The main uses of the funds will be as follows.
1. Recruitment
We will hire skilled personnel to expand blockchain games in Japan, focusing on product marketers, ad operators and AEs, engineers, product managers, token economists, BizDev and PR, and further focus on building an organization that can create products and communities.
・Culture Deck: https://www.notion.so/forn-inc/ForN-90869951388b49f382dd52b815281e14
2. Product development and Marketing/Promotion
We will contribute to the establishment of the Japanese blockchain game market by utilizing our service “GabeeTown” and other products to be released in the future to bring many game users into the market. We will work with many game publishers in Japan and abroad to bring great blockchain games to the world. To this end, we will focus on developing products that provide solutions to the entry barriers for blockchain games and expanding awareness.
Comment from each investor
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.
General Manager / Blockchain Entertainment Business Division
Keisuke Hata
Games using web3.0 technology have the appeal of offering an unprecedented gaming experience by recording the digital assets, activities, and achievements in a wallet.
However, player onboarding often requires complex steps, and the entry barrier to play is high, which makes marketing and promotion a challenge.
We believe that this is an important partnership including YGG Japan and YGG Group’s extensive know-how and design philosophy in mass adoption. Using the possibilities of blockchain which allow people to connect and create, we hope to deliver these new gameplay experiences to as many people as possible.
SEGA CORPORATION
Vice President, Director of the Board
Shuji Utsumi
We are delighted to have the opportunity to support YGG Japan. The gaming industry is rapidly evolving in response to technological advancements and changes in the ecosystem. YGG Japan will be supporting the industry’s mega-trends that we have been focusing on: blockchain games and Web3 movement. And contribute to the further growth of the industry by providing new experiences for game players.
GREE,Inc.
Head Of Business Development web3 unit
Takasugu Murata
We are pleased to invest in YGG Japan through our subsidiary BLRD. The web3 space is still in its early stage and players are still searching for their future. YGG Japan is taking a pioneering approach to prepare for the coming web3 era by exhibiting at TGS, releasing media services, and educating the industry.
While we are focusing on game development and operation, blockchain validation, and other areas that are different from YGG Japan, we would like to promote each other’s businesses in preparation for the coming web3 era.
MARBLEX Corp.
MARBLEX stated, “We are very pleased to partner with YGG Japan, which is growing as the largest Gaming DAO in Japan. We look forward to creating strong synergies in the expansion of the blockchain game market as we collaborate on community building and marketing of games within the MARBLEX ecosystem.”
enish, inc.
CEO
Kohei Antoku
Our company has been developing a mobile game business. We believe that blockchain games will be the next big wave in the game market.
The year 2023 will be the year in which blockchain games will start to become more accessible, and through this investment, together with YGG Japan, we hope to contribute to the growth of the blockchain gaming community not only in Japan but around the world.
ADWAYS Ventures, Inc.
CEO
Sho Yamada
We are very excited to be able to provide direct support to YGG Japan through this Private Round, and at the same time, to collaborate with them to provide the “DAVINCI” advertising platform specialized for blockchain games. We believe that blockchain games are still in their early stage in Japan and the rest of the world, but we believe that we will be the embodiment of our slogan, “This is amazing, it’s the first time I have seen something like this!”. We would like to work with YGG Japan and our partners to realize a new world.
Coincheck, Inc.
Executive Director
Yusuke Otsuka
Coincheck predicts that 2023 will be the “first year of blockchain game in Japan”. On the other hand, in order to release blockchain game in Japan, it is necessary to understand related regulations such as NFT and design sustainable token economics. In cooperation with YGG Japan, we would like to encourage the spread of blockchain game in Japan by proactively providing game publishers with the knowledge we have accumulated through the provision of crypto asset trading services and NFT marketplaces. We hope that YGG Japan, a blockchain game guild based on Japanese game user insights and led by its founder with an overwhelming track record in social game marketing, will lead game users to the world of “Play and Earn”!
Gate.io Labs
Head of Gate.io Labs
Japan has always had a solid international game culture and IP and a large share of the global game market in the web2 industry. YGG Japan practiced localized development to solve the language problem of Japanese users by providing web3 game specific wallet and platform to help Japanese users participate in on-chain gaming projects.We invested in YGG Japan by hoping to see the diversified development of game IP, multi-dimensional community interaction, let global web2 game players enjoy the international game experience, and help the current web3 development.
Vector Inc.
Representative Director
Masaki Watanabe
Vector is actively supporting entrepreneurs under the slogan “Designing Corporate Value with AI and Technology”.
Japan is a country with a world-class game culture and companies, but recently it is being pushed by the momentum of games by foreign companies.
We are very proud to support YGG Japan, a young Japanese game business start-up. As entrepreneurs from around the world are entering the Web3 industry, we are very much looking forward to seeing Japanese entrepreneurs play an active role in the global Web3 industry.
Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC)
Partner・Principal
Akio Tanaka・Jonathan M. Hayashi
Our fund has been supporting and incubating YGG as well as YGG’s SubDAOs in multiple regions, and we make a follow-on investment in YGG Japan as we consider YGG Japan is the SubDAO with the greatest potential to grow exponentially.
We are looking forward to seeing YGG Japan’s media platform, ads platform, and the GameFi focused wallet, which is being co-developed under a joint venture with us, to become the infrastructure of the blockchain game industry.
CAICA DIGITAL Inc.
CEO, President and Representative Director
Shin Suzuki
CAICA Group, the operator of the crypto asset exchange Zaif, entered the Web3 business in November 2022 with the launch of “Zaif INO”. Zaif will be handling GameFi tokens from now on and collaborate with YGG Japan and other Web3 companies to expand the Web3 business. We aim to realize safe and secure Web3 with a compliance system that only a group of listed companies can provide. We have high expectations for YGG Japan to open up the Web3 world based on community.
Days, Inc
COO
Junya Kawano
We are fortunate to have this opportunity to invest in the company for the second time. In order to contribute to the blockchain game industry, Days is also developing DAVINCI, a DSP specialized for blockchain games, in collaboration with YGG Japan and ADWAYS. Through this investment, we will support YGG Japan’s business expansion and will do our best to make the blockchain gaming industry even better.
Emoote
General Partner
Yuji Kumagai
We have made another investment following the previous round.
Web3 is an ecosystem. The key to taking blockchain games to the next stage lies in the gaming guilds. YGG Japan is expected to go beyond the boundaries of the existing game guilds as it begins to create an ecosystem of media, marketing, development tools, and more.
We hope that YGG Japan will play the role of infrastructure for blockchain games, and will be a driving force in Japan and abroad. Japan has a large presence in the gaming industry, and we Emoote will work with YGG Japan to support the overseas development of blockchain games from Japan and the domestic development of foreign games.
Arriba Studio PTE.LTD.
Founder & CEO
Takashi Sato
The token market continues to be sluggish, but it is in times like these that content, especially games, will rise to prominence. I have high expectations for the team that will bring about a marketing revolution in Japan for the blockchain games that will finally appear in Japan after Web3. We will continue to support them as we did last year.
Colorful Marketing Limited
We are pleased to support YGG JAPAN as we are developing several blockchain games, including Esports. We hope that together we can make this industry more exciting.
Kingdomverse
CEO of Kingdomverse
Terence Chow
Kingdomverse is a “mobile gaming metaverse” tied to a social hub for gamers to interact, fight, and play.
It is a connected ecosystem of multiple casual mobile games.
Among them, Defend the Kingdom (DTK) is the first mobile game linked with Monkey Kingdom, a NFT project from Asia.
DTK has also partnered with YGG Japan’s GabeeTown.
With this investment, we will further strengthen our cooperation with YGG Japan in order to grow it into a web3 game that will be loved by Japanese users.
ForN Gaming Guild
Diplomacy
PANCH
Thank you for the opportunity to invest in YGG Japan. We first met YGG Japan through our partnership with ForN Inc.
It was also through ForN that we established our gaming guild. Last year was a difficult time for crypto currency and blockchain games (BCG), but we are very much looking forward to the release of new Japanese titles this year.
We are looking forward to working with YGG Japan and taking on various challenges in order to boost these titles.
As a gaming guild, we will contribute to the recognition of blockchain games (BCG) in Japan and provide new enjoyment to users.
Eureka Entertainment Ltd.
CEO
Takuya Tsuji
There are many hurdles to overcome in order to increase the number of blockchain game users, but we definitely feel that this is an area with a lot of potential. We would like to work with the YGGJapan team to create the future of blockchain games in Japan.
GabeeTown
GabeeTown is a web3 game-specific platform in Japan that handles information on carefully selected domestic and foreign web3 games so that even beginners can start playing games efficiently.
GabeeTown aims to bring gamers together through a variety of games, and furthermore, to produce “professional gamers” from within the platform.
URL related to Gabee Town
Official site: https://gabeetown.com/
Special site: https://lp.gabeetown.com/
Information about Gabee Town is also posted on the following YGG Japan SNS accounts
Twitter https://twitter.com/YGGJapan
FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/YGG-Japan-101792249155416
Discord https://discord.gg/yggjapan
Medium https://medium.com/@YGGJapan
[Company Profile]
Company name: ForN Inc.
Establishment: November 2021
Location: 406 THE MODULE roppongi, 7–21–24 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106–0032
Representative Director: Tetsuya Fujiwara
HP: https://www.forn.co.jp/
Business Overview: ForN Inc. is the business partner of the world’s largest blockchain game guild “YGG” in Japan and the operating company of blockchain game platformer “YGG Japan”. We actively provide marketing support, tool development, and infrastructure development to contribute to the expansion of the Japanese blockchain game market.
