The pandemic has increased demand for online shopping and prompted many smaller retailers to set up their own online offerings. Japanese commerce enabler AnyMindthat helps brands and influencers’ online operations has closed a Series D round of ¥5 billion (about $36 million) as a result of that boost to make additional acquisitions in Japan and worldwide.
The Series D financing, which brings total financing to date to approximately $91.7 million, consists of ¥4 billion (29.4 million) in equity and ¥1 billion in debt. Investors include JIC Venture Growth Investment, Japan Post Investment, Nomura SPARX Investment, Proto Ventures and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital. Mizuho Bank has provided the debt facility. The startup has not disclosed its valuation.
AnyMind acquired ENGAWA, a Japan-based cross-border marketing firm, in January last year with its Series C proceeds. Prior to that acquisition, AnyMind acquired six companies to acquire and expand its sales channels in several regions, including POKKT, a mobile advertising platform in India; Thailand-based multi-channel network (MCN) Mindythat helps manage video content for influencers; Acqua Media, a mobile advertising platform in Hong Kong; and LYFTa D2C fitness brand in Japan.
Most of the founders of the acquired companies have stayed in AnyMind to support continued growth, AnyMind co-founder and CEO Kosuke Sogo told ukbusinessupdates.com. Moindy’s founder became the company’s country manager in Thailand, and the POKKT co-founders are now the company’s COO and general manager in India and the Middle East, respectively, Sogo added.
Founded in 2016 in Singapore, AnyMind expanded into Southeast Asia, East Asia, India and the Middle East through aggressive acquisitions. The startup moved its headquarters to Tokyo, Japan in 2019 to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which requires its office to be located in Japan. Sogo told ukbusinessupdates.com that AnyMind has received approval for its IPO, but scrapped it in March due to the market condition that started to deteriorate.
AnyMind offers a number of services for brands and online entrepreneurs. It launched AnyChata conversational commerce platform, in March, and AnyX, an e-commerce management platform, which allows to optimize e-commerce operations by centrally managing multiple e-commerce channels. Sogo told ukbusinessupdates.com that AnyX is integrated with Asian ecommerce marketplaces like Shopee, Rakuten and Lazada and global ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon and Shopify.
Its production platform AnyFactoryConnected with more than 200 manufacturers in Asia, we help everyone find the best suppliers to make their products. The company’s logistics management platform AnyLogi empowers D2C and e-commerce brands with fulfillment.
The company currently supports more than 1,000 brands, including TikTok, Canon, and Traveloka for marketing and commerce, and more than 1,110 publishers, including Pantip, Gizmodo Japan, and Anglers, for monetization of advertising and D2C activities. It also partners with more than 1,400 creators to grow their own D2C brands.
“Many of our customers choose us because they can tap into Asia as a whole — be it influencers across the region, logistics networks, manufacturers, market expansion expertise, and more,” Sogo told ukbusinessupdates.com.
The company says it posted revenue of $174 million. AnyMind has 17 offices in 13 markets with more than 1,000 employees.
“Despite COVID-19 and geopolitical situations affecting the world, we have still been able to deliver solid growth as a company,” said Sogo. “On the other hand, we see economies in Asia, including our operating markets of ASEAN and India, are rapidly growing again.”
