\u3000Tokyo \u2013 Japan, January 20, 2025 – Vector Inc.
\n(Headquarters: Tokyo; Chairman and CEO: Keiji Nishie; TYO: 6058)\u00a0 \u00a0has
\nbeen actively supporting startup growth through investments and PR\/IR
\nassistance. To date, Vector Inc. has invested in approximately 250 domestic
\ncompanies and has backed 32 companies achieve IPOs and sustatin post-listing growth.<\/p>\n
\u3000As part of it\u2019s pioneering expansion into
\noverseas investments, Vector Inc. has decided to invest in \u00a0bythen, an Indonesian-based AI startup, and
\nenter into a capital and business alliance.<\/p>\n
\u3000The Global IP market has been experiencing
\nrapid growth, reaching approximately USD 315.5 billion in 2021-threee times its
\nsize a decade ago. Additionally, the rise of social media has fuled the
\nexpansion of the “creator economy,” where individuals can develop and
\nmontize their own original IP.<\/p>\n
\u3000bythen empowers users to creative AI-powered
\ndigital twins, produce engaging content, and live stream, unlocking new
\nopportunites to elevate their online presence and monetize influence. The
\nplatform democratizes access to virtual influencers, leveraging AI-driven content
\ngeneration to enbale 24\/7 automated engagement across social media platforms. bythen
\nis poised to disrupt the $325 billion creator economy and empower over 200
\nmillion global content creators.<\/p>\n
\u3000Kevin Mintaraga, the founder of bythen, is a
\nglobally recognized serial entrepreneur. He previously built Magnivate, which
\nwas acquired by WPP in 2012, and Bridestory, which was acquired by Tokopedia in
\n2019. <\/p>\n
\u3000Looking ahead, the Vector Inc. will continue
\nto expand its focus beyond domestic companies to include overseas companies, driving
\nbusiness and economic growth by investing in companies with cutting-edge
\ntechnologies and world-leading services.<\/p>\n
Profile of Kevin Mintaraga, CEO of bythen<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u30fbCo-founded Magnivate, a digital agency (now Mirum
\nAgency), in 2008.<\/p>\n
\u30fbSold Magnivate to WPP, the world’s largest advertising
\nand marketing company, in\u00a0 2012 and
\nserved as the youngest subsidiary CEO in WPP\u2019s history until 2013.<\/p>\n
\u30fbFounded Bridestory in 2013, which grew into
\nIndonesia\u2019s largest wedding \u3000<\/p>\n
marketplace
\nand was acquired by Tokopedia in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u30fbServed as CMO of Tokopedia (now part of the GoTo
\nGroup) from 2019.<\/p>\n
\u30fbFeatured on Campaign Asia\u2019s Power List for four consecutive
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Comment from Kevin Mintaraga<\/b><\/p>\n
“Japan is
\na global leader in the virtual influencer industry and a powerhouse of IP
\ncontent. Receiving investment from Vector, Asia\u2019s largest PR company with a vast
\ndomestic and international network, is a great honor.<\/p>\n
Vector\u2019s
\nstrong reputation and customer network in Japan and the broader Asian region
\nwill play a pivotale role in helping bythen promote its avatar collections and
\nsolutions. Furthermore, this partnership opens the possibility for
\ncollaborations between bythen and Japan\u2019s iconic IPs.<\/p>\n
Until now, the
\nrights to virtual influencer IPs were typically owned by companies, limiting
\nindividuals’ freedom to customize and adapt them. bythen aims to democratize
\nvirtual influencer IPs globally by providing users with tools and solutions to
\nbuild and grow their digital presence.”<\/p>\n
Profile of Ryo Umezawa, Vice President of New
\nBusiness Development and Global M&A, Vector Inc.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u30fbSpent ten years
\nin the Philippines before graduating from Sophia <\/p>\n
University
\nwith a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in International Business and Economics, in
\n2007.<\/p>\n
\u30fbInterned at J-Seed during university, contributing to
\nbusiness launches <\/p>\n
and marketing activities
\nfrom 2005.<\/p>\n
\u30fbWorked at Traffic Gate (now LinkShare Japan) from
\n2008, building smartphone ad network businesses and developing voice
\nrecognition search app <\/p>\n
\u30fbCo-founded two startups, a mobile marketing company
\nand a coupon aggregation business<\/p>\n
\u30fbServed as the CEO of HAILO Japan, a taxi-hailing app,
\nand held executive roles <\/p>\n
at HomeAway
\nJapan, Tinder Japan, and investment funds East Ventures and Antler.<\/p>\n
\u30fbAppointed as Vice President of New Business
\nDevelopment and Global M&A at Vector Inc. in 2024.<\/p>\n
\nComment from Ryo Umezawa<\/b><\/p>\n
“It is a
\ngreat honor to support an entrepreneur embarking on his third venture with a
\nvision of democratizing AI virtual characters and pursuing global expansion.
\nThis initiative will showcase Japan\u2019s content and culture globally, unlock
\ncreators\u2019 full potential, and contribute to the growth of the sharing
\neconomy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u3000Tokyo \u2013 Japan, January 20, 2025 – Vector Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo; Chairman and CEO: Keiji Nishie; TYO: 6058)\u00a0 \u00a0has been actively supporting startup growth through investments and PR\/IR assistance. To date, Vector Inc. has invested in approximately 250 domestic companies and has backed 32 companies achieve IPOs and sustatin post-listing growth. \u3000As part of it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12938,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-singapore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12937,"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12936\/revisions\/12937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiajournaux.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}