Cool Japan Fund Invests $30 Million in Sentai

The Cool Japan Fund has invested $30 million for shares of Sentai Holdings, the North American Japanese anime licensor and parent company of Sentai Filmworks, HIDIVE and Anime Network.

Through this investment, the Japanese government’s Cool Japan Fund aims to provide support at the copyright level to increase the presence of Japanese anime in the North American market and help expand the scope of related merchandise. Cool Japan Fund will look to sell streaming platform rights via niche-market copyright acquisition and grow in the marketplace through relationships and investments with overseas partners.

Sentai, which was founded in 2008, has licensed more than 700 titles of Japanese anime. Its revenue streams include the SVOD platform HIDIVE, the cable service Anime Network, branded merchandise, B2B content licensing and a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform.

John Ledford, CEO of Sentai Filmworks, said: “We are extremely proud of the work we’ve done at Sentai to bring great anime storytelling, experiences, characters and collectibles to fans around the world for more than a decade. The investment by Cool Japan Fund allows us to further our potential by expanding and deepening our long-running support of the Japanese anime industry.”