Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd’s subsidiary Animoca Brands Japan has invested JP¥150 million in LMI GROUP Inc to assist LMI in accelerating its growth and expanding its reach in the retail media sector in Japan.
LMI, whose predecessor company was founded in 1987, provides and develops various types of solutions for retail companies, utilising its long experience in both physical and virtual shop design.
In recent years, LMI has been reflecting online customer data collection/utilisation to offline real shops and has been engaged in maximising value to space by use of real world data in commercial/life space.
As the post-COVID recovery accelerates, the retail media sector is expected to grow in Japan and around the world.
Animoca Brands Japan believes that LMI’s knowledge of and experience in the retail space make it a valuable partner to create new value and contribute to the overall development of the retail industry, leveraging LMI’s capabilities and network as a leading solution provider in this field.
“Web3 can contribute enormously to productivity”
Animoca Brands Japan co-founder and chief investment officer Kyoya Okazawa said: “We are grateful for this investment opportunity into LMI, who has established itself as a leading promoter of Digital Transformation (DX) in the retail sector, and is now eyeing an IPO.
“Synergies with the Animoca Brands ecosystem will be identified to help LMI to promote ways to reinvigorate the retail sector.
“We believe that Web3 can contribute enormously to productivity in Japan’s retail sector, leading to job creation and wage increases, and we look forward to exploring all these opportunities together.”
MOU with NEC
Animoca Brands, Gryfyn Holdings and NEC have entered a memorandum of understanding with the aim of creating and expanding the digital wallet market in the Web3 area.
NEC is working to realise a Web3 society in which privacy protection and data utilisation are compatible, and where people and data are trusted, by leveraging its world-class biometric authentication, secure computation and blockchain technologies.
As part of this initiative, NEC is aiming to expand the digital wallet market and business opportunities.
Gryfyn, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, provides a custodial crypto wallet that allows anyone anywhere to easily and safely access digital experiences, own and handle digital assets, and connect with their favourite brands.
Through this collaboration, NEC aims to realize a trustworthy Web3 society, creating, and expanding the market by combining the Gryfyn-powered wallet and services with NEC’s biometric authentication technology as well as other software and technologies related to digital wallets.
