Zaiko is pleased to announce its US $1.8 million Series B round with Infinity Ventures (Japan, Taiwan). Additionally, Akio Tanaka of Infinity Ventures and Sasa Vucinic of North Base Media will be joining the Zaiko board of directors.
Zaiko Pte Ltd., founded in 2019 as a two-sided marketplace/D2F (Direct to Fan) ticketing service has been growing rapidly since its launch. In March 2020 Zaiko introduced live-streaming ticketed events to the Japan market and since then has become the de facto market leader with over 5,000 streamed events on the platform and millions of tickets sold.
2021 will see Zaiko double its current size, and as the new investment allows Zaiko to rapidly build market share overseas while further developing its D2F product ecosystem which includes Zaiko Seed, Encore, and Borderless.
Akio Tanaka of Infinity Ventures:
“Zaiko has proven itself as the paid live streaming market leader in Japan by recognizing opportunity early on in the COVID pandemic. Zaiko’s understanding of both consumer behavior and the needs of the entertainment industry led to the D2F model that has benefited both the B2B and B2C markets, including a global-leading USD $25 million returned back to artists in 2020 alone. Infinity Ventures prides itself on working with cutting edge companies who think outside the box, and can pivot those hard choices into a successful business model. Zaiko is one of those companies, and we are looking forward to helping them reach the next stage of their growth.”
Malek Nasser, CEO of Zaiko:
“We are excited to have Infinity Ventures join Zaiko. IVP who fundamentally understand Zaiko’s vision and the full potential of this digital event era. With their guidance, we will be able to take advantage of current opportunities and strengthen our position as a market leader, not only in Japan and Asia but worldwide. With this funding, we plan to rapidly develop new overseas markets with our industry-defining technology and ecosystems.We also aim to strengthen our B2C subscription service Encore as well as our alternative artist financing resource Zaiko Seed to assist artists and event organizers moving into the digital event space.”