Gaudiy's Web3 fan-economy bet: Sony and Bandai Namco put in ¥10B, MyAnimeList joins

Gaudiy is a Tokyo-based Web3/AI startup building 'Gaudiy Fanlink', a fan-community platform for major entertainment companies (e.g., Bandai Namco's Gundam Builders' Note), owner of MyAnimeList, with a financial arm exploring token economies.

That fans, not just studios, will create entertainment's next economic layer — Web3 communities around IP, productized as Fanlink, anchored by MyAnimeList's 19.5M users.

Pre-Series C of ¥10B (~$67M) from Sony Group and Bandai Namco Holdings, announced 2025-05-08 (Nikkei-reported split: Sony ¥7B, Bandai Namco ¥3B, per NewEconomy); earlier backers include KDDI Open Innovation Fund (2022); capital base ~¥3.7B including reserves as of August 2022.

Yuya Ishikawa founded an AI company at 19 and sold it; after discovering blockchain in 2017, he started Gaudiy in May 2018 with a 'Fan Nation' vision — a society where people live off their passions. The company built Gaudiy Fanlink as a B2B platform for entertainment companies to run official fan communities on blockchain rails.

Deals with major IP holders including Bandai Namco's Gundam Builders' Note validated the model; KDDI's fund invested in 2022 and Gaudiy US Inc. launched in New York in December 2023. In March 2025 Gaudiy acquired MyAnimeList from Media Do, and on 8 May 2025 Sony and Bandai Namco announced a ¥10B strategic investment to combine Crunchyroll, MyAnimeList and BNHD's IP businesses — with seven publishers and entertainment firms becoming shareholders through the share exchange.

Still private and scaling: ~113 employees as of March 2025, organized as a group running Fanlink, MyAnimeList, financial, live, creative and AI-research businesses (Toyo Keizai, 2025-08-17). The commercial validation is incomplete — whether Web3 fan economies generate durable revenue beyond studio contracts remains the open question.

The B2B-first move let Gaudiy earn from the industry while consumer Web3 was still immature, avoiding a cold start with token holders.

Japanese IP is globally dominant (10 of the top 25 media franchises), giving a Japan-based fan-economy platform a genuine moat source.

Buying MyAnimeList gave Gaudiy instant global reach — 19.5M registered users, 99% non-Japanese — instead of years of community building.

Publishers and studios became shareholders through the share exchange, aligning the incumbents with the startup's thesis.

The revenue test is still open: fan-token economics have not yet proven durable beyond enterprise partnerships.

A thesis too early for consumers can still be sold to incumbents: build the infrastructure, let giants become shareholders — but the bet pays off only if fan economies monetize beyond partnerships.

As of 17 August 2025, Gaudiy is private and scaling: ~113 employees, six legal entities and seven business lines spanning Fanlink, MyAnimeList, financial services, live events, creative and AI research, with Sony and Bandai Namco's ¥10B pre-Series C and publisher shareholders from the MyAnimeList share exchange. A second close at the same valuation was planned within 2025. The company's commercial future depends on whether the fan-economy platform generates recurring revenue from fan activity and token features rather than one-off studio contracts.