• PlayVerse is a technology-enabled entertainment platform with a mission to spread joy to the world through world-class content, toys & games, and digital merchandise enabled by Web 3.0 technology

• PlayVerse aims at localizing global anime content into regional Indian languages to be inclusive and accessible to the diverse vernacular Indian audience

• PlayVerse will provide full-stack solutions to IP owners to maximize its monetization potential via a 360-degree approach to content and merchandise

Technology-enabled entertainment company, PlayVerse, has raised USD 1.5 Mn as seed funding from Japanese gaming company Akatsuki Inc. By offering world-class content, toys, games, and technology products in India, the diverse platform will be focusing on its mission of providing an enriching experience to the end consumers of the country. With an aim of increasing cross-border collaborations between India and Japan, PlayVerse looks to maximize the monetization potential of popular Japanese IPs and brands in India.

Founder of PlayVerse, Jaineel Aga is a serial entrepreneur who recently sold his first venture, Planet Superheroes to Nodwin Gaming, an esports company, and a subsidiary of NSE-listed Nazara Technologies. He is an alumnus of Duke University and has worked in strategy consulting and in private equity before pursuing entrepreneurship.

A FICCI-EY report estimated that by 2025, 50% of the total time spent on OTT platforms will be to consume regional content and PlayVerse will also be aiming at localizing global content into regional Indian languages to be inclusive and accessible to the diverse vernacular Indian audience. The Indian toys market reached a value of USD 1.35 Bn in 2021 and with more than 400 million online gamers in India, the Indian gaming industry is expected to reach USD 3.9 Bn by 2025. By catering to both these industries along with focusing on providing world-class content, PlayVerse looks to build on its philosophy of “Joy Infinitum” meaning, spreading infinite joy to its consumers.

“Thanks to the advent of blockchain technology and the scalability offered by promising L2 protocols, we have some moonshot ideas of IP monetization that we are exploring. At the moment, we are focused on customer discovery and hypothesis testing to assess product-market fit”, said founder Jaineel when asked about how PlayVerse intends to utilize these funds.

PlayVerse will launch its own D2C brand which will be focused on an interconnected universe of content and “play”. It aims to unlock the full potential of an IP with a 360-degree approach to content and merchandise. This merchandise would include both physical products such as toys as well as digital assets like avatars, emojis, and skins creating more interest among users. PlayVerse will be actively focusing on enabling content owners to maximize the monetization potential of their IPs.