The archive · Consumer Apps · Strategic decision · 2018–2025
Gaudiy's Web3 fan-economy bet: Sony and Bandai Namco put in ¥10B, MyAnimeList joins
Tokyo startup bets blockchain fan communities are entertainment's next economy; Sony + Bandai Namco invest ¥10B, publishers join via MyAnimeList's 19.5M users.
Gaudiy Inc. (株式会社Gaudiy)
What the business is
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.
Starting capital：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.
How it started
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.
What happened
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.
How it ended up
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.
Background
Gaudiy is a Tokyo startup betting that the next economic layer of entertainment belongs to fans, not just studios. Founder Yuya Ishikawa — who built and sold an AI company at 19 — started Gaudiy in May 2018 after discovering blockchain, with a 'Fan Nation' vision of a society where people can live off their passions. Instead of launching consumer tokens first, the company built Gaudiy Fanlink, a B2B platform that lets major IP holders run their own official fan communities with blockchain and AI features.
The strategy of selling infrastructure to incumbents worked. Gaudiy's work with Bandai Namco's Gundam Builders' Note community and other IP holders proved the model; KDDI's Open Innovation Fund invested in 2022 and a New York subsidiary opened in December 2023. Then came the step that made the thesis concrete: in March 2025 Gaudiy acquired MyAnimeList from Media Do, bringing the world's largest anime and manga community — 19.5M registered users, 99% of them outside Japan — into the group.
On 8 May 2025, Sony Group and Bandai Namco Holdings announced a strategic partnership and a combined ¥10B investment in Gaudiy (Nikkei reported the split as ¥7B and ¥3B), with plans to combine Sony's Crunchyroll, Gaudiy's MyAnimeList and Bandai Namco's IP businesses. Through the MyAnimeList share exchange, seven more shareholders joined — Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, Coamix, Bushiroad, Akatsuki and Anime Times — giving Japan's entertainment establishment a direct stake in the fan-economy bet.
As of August 2025 the company is still private, with ~113 employees and a group spanning Fanlink, MyAnimeList, financial, live, creative and AI-research businesses, and it planned a second close at the same valuation. The bet is validated by capital but not yet by revenue at scale: the open question is whether Web3 fan communities can generate durable economics beyond studio contracts.
What has to be true
- 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.
What can be applied
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.
Aftermath
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.
Sources
- Sony Group Corporation, Bandai Namco Holdings, and Gaudiy Have Begun a Strategic Partnership to Invest and Cooperate in Building the Future of Entertainment
- Gaudiy、プレシリーズCラウンドの資金調達を実施
- ソニーとバンダイ、Web3企業ガウディと提携、総額100億円の出資も
- ソニーやバンナム、大手出版社が相次ぎ出資する謎のスタートアップ「ガウディ」の石川代表を直撃、掲げる「ファン国家」構想の知られざる実態
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