Whomor raises from TV Tokyo to scale anime merchandise business
What's the deal? Japanese creative and IP development firm WhomorDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised capital from TV TokyoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → through a third-party share allotment, alongside debt financing from financial institutions. The broadcaster leads the round as part of a capital and business partnership to accelerate Whomor's anime merchandising operations.
What does the company do? Tokyo-based Whomor, founded in November 2011, produces illustrations, manga, and Webtoon content and runs merchandise operations. It draws on a network of 16,000 illustrators and manga artists, handling more than 150 licensed illustration projects a year.
Why now? TV Tokyo is pursuing its long-term "Tele-Tokyo VISION 2035" and "Contents As A Service (CaaS)" strategy, which aims to strengthen its anime business base. The tie-up gives the broadcaster a continuous collaboration partner for turning content and IP into products.
What's the endgame? Alongside the raise, Whomor used the debt financing to acquire a related company, building an in-house group that spans illustration, goods planning, manufacturing, distribution, and sales. The goal is to combine its "illustration and merchandising planning" strengths with newly acquired "goods manufacturing" capacity.
The company plans to speed up merchandise rollouts for both new and existing anime, re-prepare guidebooks and illustration assets for older titles, and time goods supply to broadcasts and social-media buzz using its pop-up shops and retail channels.
What they're saying: "I am very pleased with the capital and business partnership with Whomor, which has strengths in illustration production," said Takuyuki Hirobe, a TV Tokyo director overseeing anime (translated from Japanese). Whomor chief executive officer Mikiya Shibatsuji said the firm is "building an end-to-end system from planning to manufacturing and sales."
The signal: The deal shows Japanese broadcasters moving to secure merchandising capacity in-house as anime IP monetisation grows, with TV Tokyo betting on vertical integration to turn hit titles into timely, revenue-generating products.
Read more: prtimes.jp
Image credit: istolethetv
