THINKR will now renew its VI (VISUAL IDENTITY).
The typeface, in which strength and sharpness co-exist, represents our statement as a design firm: maintain a connection with the friends who fight alongside us in an uncertain era, as we stand actively on the “cutting edge” and carve out the future.
And it expresses a CHALLENGING SPIRIT and ATTRACTION that upsets (in a good way) the established order.
It is also an expression of our strong commitment to realizing our corporate image: “WE ARE A DRAMATIC DESIGN FIRM.”
By strengthening our multiple content studios and promoting 5 areas—CREATIVE, ARTISTS, IP, XR, INNOVATION, we will establish the standard for A NEW TYPE OF CREATION in next generation entertainment.
Alongside our VI renewal, as of July 26 2024, we have spun out from our parent company, Avex Group, and have raised funds through a third-party allotment of new shares.
So we would like to officially announce now that THINKR’s first full-scale financing opportunity has enabled us to become independent of Avex Group.
We raised a total of approximately 5 billion yen in a Series A round of financing via a third-party allotment of new shares to Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, JAFCO, HIRAC FUND, Makers Fund, Cygames Capital, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, Yostar, Chishima Real Estate, THIRDWAVE, as well as a loan from Resona Bank. At the same time, via a stock repurchase, we acquired all shares of THINKR that were held by Avex Group.
This is THINKR’s first full-scale financing since our company’s establishment.
A DRAMATIC DESIGN FIRM that changes the landscape of society through next generation entertainment has leveled up. With this new management structure, THINKR will aim for even more growth.
The approximately 5 billion yen raised in this round has been applied towards buying back all of our shares held by Avex Group and repaying our loans; we intend to apply all of the remaining funds towards our future growth.
In addition to our existing business areas of creative development, artist management, virtual artist production, original IP development, and the XR live business, we will actively develop a COMPREHENSIVE VIRTUAL ENTERTAINMENT business that best utilizes the expertise that we have cultivated in the virtual domain, including game, anime, metaverse, AI x IP, and immersive entertainment.
We also plan to launch “THINKR NEXT ARTISTS DEVELOPMENT”, a project that will invest in the development of new talent.
From now on, instead of a single large shareholder management structure, THINKR will be managed more independently while being backed by multiple new shareholders.
With a backs-against-the-wall mindset, we will now undertake our THIRD FOUNDING AS A COMPANY, in order to transform into an innovative and world-class company that creates next generation entertainment.
THINKR is taking the opportunity of this spin out to promote strategic alliances with Avex Group, Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, and Shinryoiki Corporation.
THINKR and Avex Group will continue to maintain a strategic alliance in the ARTIST BUSINESS.
In addition to working as partners in relation to THINKR’s IP on various activities (including overseas expansion), we plan to continue to collaborate as businesses across the various fields that have proven to be synergistic for us.
We will form a strategic alliance with Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, one of THINKR’s new shareholders, in the area of IMMERSIVE ENTERTAINMENT.
Both of our companies have accumulated experience in the metaverse and IP sectors over the past few years. Together, we are considering new projects and business endeavors that can utilize the synergy of this strategic alliance.
THINKR and Shinryoiki Corporation will form a strategic alliance in the area of IMMERSIVE ENTERTAINMENT. Furthermore, its CEO, Mr. Ou Sugiyama, will also participate as a supervisor of our company.
Mr. Ou Sugiyama’s ProfileART+TECH PRODUCER of Shinryoiki Corporation.
From 2018, he worked as the General Manager of “MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: EPSON teamLab Borderless”. And from 2023, while in charge of planning for “TOKYO NODE” of Toranomon Hills, he worked on immersive exhibitions with Rhizomatiks and Mika Ninagawa. His experience demonstrates his success at realizing the branding and monetization of a city through art.
・He founded Shinryoiki Corporation in 2024.
・He is the general planning director of the signature pavilion “Dialogue Theater - sign of life -” of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
・For the World Horticultural Exhibition YOKOHAMA 2027, as director of the theme hall exhibition, he is overseeing facility production and creating new immersive experiences.
・His grandfathers are the Japanese-style painter Yasushi Sugiyama and the architect Yoshiro Taniguchi, and his uncles are architect Yoshio Taniguchi and novelist Yukio Mishima.
