Accelerate development of IP content for global parents and children
- The following is content from the press release -
(Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Shusuke Harada), a developer and distributor of IP content for parents and children around the world, announces that it has raised a total of 50 million yen in a seed round of funding from Dawn Capital, ANOBAKA, Kenji Kasahara, and G-STARTUP through a private placement. The funding will be used to support the company's development of new products and services in Japan. With this financing, the company will accelerate its global IP (intellectual property) content business, which develops characters that originate in Japan and are loved by parents and children around the world, and utilizes them in merchandise products and services.
Nicoli Business Overview
(1) Background of establishment
Nicoli is a social networking media company that adds live commentary to baby videos under the mission of "weaving smiles on the faces of parents and their children through the power of entertainment.live babyThe company manages the "WBS (World Business Satellite)" and "Sinapshu," a sports play-by-play and toddler program. The president, Shusuke Harada, is a former announcer at TV Tokyo, where he was in charge of "WBS (World Business Satellite)," live sports coverage, and the toddler program "Sinapushu," etc. In 2021, he took 3 months of childcare leave as a father himself. In 2021, he took a three-month leave of absence to raise his child as a father himself. His mission is to add color to the daily lives of parents and children through IP content for parents and children, and to create an environment full of smiles.
(2) Footing
I started it as my first business, "live babyThe "JIKKYOU BABY" is a social networking media service in which an announcer provides live commentary on videos of babies sent in by parents, and it continues to grow as a popular account with over 700,000 followers and over 1 billion total views on social networking sites. In addition, we are also expanding our marketing support business for companies such as Kao Corporation and Pigeon Corporation, which are developing businesses for parents and children, using JIKKYOU BABEI.
market opportunity
Entertainment originating from Japan has achieved global success in adult-oriented content such as movies, animation, and games. However, there are few IP contents for parents and children or for babies that have a presence in the global market, and there is a lack of foreign-originated "Cocomelon(188 million YouTube subscribers)" and "Baby Shark(15.4 billion views)" and other works dominate the market.
Therefore, Nicoli has launched a global IP (intellectual property) content business to create characters loved by parents and children around the world, originating in Japan, utilizing the social network marketing know-how gained from "JIKKYOU BABY".
fundraising
With this financing, Nicoli aims to strengthen its planning and production system for contents for parents and children, accelerate the development of works that are competitive in the international market, and expand globally through the use of digital distribution platforms and social networking services. In addition, Nicoli will expand the contents of "JIKKYOU BABY" to strengthen the distribution of contents that parents and children can enjoy together, and will increase the number of members as the business expands.
Mr. Ichihiko Ishikura, President & CEO, Dawn Capital
Seeing Ms. Harada's ability to express herself from her background as a former announcer, running "Jikkyo Baby" with 700,000 followers, and most importantly, her love for children, I am convinced that she can create a character that will be loved by people around the world. We made this investment because we would like to work with Mr. Harada to help enrich the future of children. I am very happy to be able to work with everyone at Nicoli to bring an exciting future to children's IP and to the world!
Mr. Yasukazu Nagano, President, ANOBAKA Corporation
As a seed-specific VC, ANOBAKA places importance on how passionate the founders are about their business. I was very impressed with Mr. Harada's dream of "winning in the world of kids' entertainment" with a twinkle in his eye from the first time I met him. I am happy to be a part of Nicoli's dream. I can't help but look forward to a world where Nicoli offers entertainment that everyone in the child-rearing generation is familiar with.
Ms. Natsuki Tamura, Executive Director of G-STARTUP, Venture Support Team, Representative Office of GLOBIS Corporation
We have been supporting you since your participation in G-STARTUP 8th batch. When we first met, Mr. Harada, a former announcer, said, "I don't know much about business. But when it comes to child-rearing x entertainment, we are the best in Japan! He was very passionate about this. Since then, she has grown up rapidly and is now an entrepreneur of exceptional talent, involving key people in Japan and abroad one after another.
With the vision of "making parents and children around the world smile," the company has already created a lot of parent-child enthusiasm in Japan, starting with JIKKYOU BABY. We hope that through this funding, the company will further accelerate its business development and make a leap forward to become a global entertainment startup representing Japan. We sincerely hope that the company will grow to become a unicorn company!
Seeking associates to create IP loved by parents and children.
Nicoli is looking for people to be involved in marketing and IP business for parents and children, whether full-time or on the side. If you share our approach and are interested in providing entertainment content for parents and children, please feel free to contact us.
About Us
Company name: Nicoli Co.
Representative: Shusuke Harada, President and Representative Director
Location: Blue Building Main Building 4B, 3-10, Hirakawacho 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Establishment: August 2023
U R L:https://nicoli.jp/
Business activities: Marketing support business for parents and children, character and IP business
