Providing industries with a suite of technology solutions to enable businesses to drive efficiency and scale: AnyMind Group

World is moving at a fast pace today. With the proliferation of the internet, marketing needs of for entertainers and businesses are evolving too. They need a name that can be relied upon to drive their efficiency and help them scale. Singapore- based AnyMind Group is the leading solution provider for the biggest organizations around the world including TikTok, Grab, Traveloka, Yamaha, and Honda.

Founded by Kosuke Sogo and Otohiko Kozutsumiin 2016, AnyMind Group began its journey as AdAsia Holdings. AdAsia Holdings is now anadvertsing and marketing technology leader that comes under the umbrella of AnyMind Group today. With a vision to empower growth of professionals, businesses and industries, the company continues to grow.“At AnyMind Group, we leverage on technology to empower the "Growth for Everyone" philosophy, empowering the growth of professionals, businesses and industries. We will continue our commitment to provide cutting-edge technologies to drive this growth across various fields,” says Kosuke Sogo, CEO of AnyMind Group.

AnyMind continues to grow today as it has now 17 offices across 13 markets including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan, India and the United Arab Emirates.“Our technology is supported by a team of local experts in our various verticals and markets. We have been focusing on global expansion since we started the company, and our team comprises of people from diverse cultures and backgrounds around the world,” adds Sogo.

POKKT Acquisition

Acquisitions are one of the most natural ways of growing in the corporate world. One of the most prized acquisitions by AnyMind Group was announced in March 2020 when it acquired a leading in-apps ad platform POKKT Mobile Ads.

Founded in 2012, POKKT began its journey in India and rapidly grew into the Southeast Asia and then in the Middle East. It had over 500 million monthly active users, and its offerings includedin-app video ads, rich ads, rich media innovations and app performance marketing. The startup had built data and machine learning capabilities which helped over 200 advertising partners for audiences.

The acquisition was completely organic as both the companies had a great synergy between their offerings and geographies they served. Clients belonging to both companies will benefit across Asia as the companies come together. The acquisition of POKKT provided AnyMind Group more reach in the region by giving it access to three offices in India and an office in the UAE. Now, the company is present in 13 markets.

“AnyMind Group has built a highly scalable and sustainable business in Asia in such a short span of time. We are extremely excited to be part of Anymind Group and cross-leverage tremendous synergies in markets, products and skill-sets. We are very confident that the merged entity will create much larger business growth for AnyMind Group,” said Rohit Sharma, who was the CEO and Co-founder POKKT. Post acquisition, he joined AnyMind Group as its COO.

Helping Influencers

Marketing field has developed quite a bit in the recent years as a new breed of clients has started requiring such solutions to grow their brand. With the emergence of social media, influencers have become icons for the youth all over the world. Their popularity has brought big brands to them and this has created an Influencer boom.

Best of the companies adapt with changing times and find opportunities to grow while helping solve challenges. AnyMind Group has an incredibly young workforce that understands the importance of influencers. And so, the Group recently made an announcement to help influencers. It offered to bear the startup cost for the social media influencers to help them create their own branded merchandise through AnyMind D2C for Influencers.

AnyMind Group’s D2C is its direct-to-consumer solution through which it provides support for planning, finance, and product manufacturing for influencers who are on the look out to launch their own brand.The Group provides manufacturing solutions to lower production costs and other solutions to influencers who already have an established brand. The company works with over 200 manufacturers across Asia and can help influencers match with the best manufacturers based on the product they want to create.

“The ways in which individuals and businesses can express themselves and their originality is evolving. With AnyMindD2C, we’re looking to become a growth partner for influencers across Asia, and make it easier for anyone to create their own brand and products. Ultimately, we will bring a new era where doing business is simpler, exciting and borderless,” says Sogo.

The company is implementing screening of influencers to find the potential of their brand and audience value. For the selected influencers, AnyMind is covering costs for ideation and planning, sourcing and procurement of suppliers through AnyFactory, production of samples and the setting up of e-commerce capabilities. The Group is also looking to implement a revenue share model with the influencers.

A Key Partnership for the Influencer Segment

AnyMind Group’s CastingAsia announced a strategic partnership late last year with Grove Co., Ltd, which is a leading influencer network in Japan.The partnership has seen 150 exclusive creators including popular names like ReikaOzeki,Yui Takeuchi, and Kano/Kanockstarwithin Grove’s network join the CastingAsia Creators Network. Additionally, 700 registered creators too joined CastingAsia’s network. The CastingAsia platform is helpinglocal teams across Asia by providing marketers with strategy consultation, influencer collaborations and much more. Marketers can track and manage the influencer marketing activity through the platform.

FACT: AnyMind Group acquired Grove in January 2020.

Premium Social Media Account Analytics

AnyMind Group in June announced its latest innovation by launching its brand new analytics tool for marketers to analyze and track their brand’s social media profile on the CastingAsia Platform.The launch will provide marketers a better view and a greater control over their social media and influencer marketing assets through the platform. The tool has been launched initially just forInstagram profiles.

Marketers will be able to get insights on theirclient’s social media accounts, their growth parameters including ‘follower’ number growth, posts, reach and engagement. They can also view the influencer’s follower demographics and follower sentiment on posts.

“Social media and influencer marketing has gone hand-in-hand in recent years, and the ability to manage both aspects should be in the hands of the user. We are building more features to tie them closer together and ensure that marketers have full control over these now-essential areas of the marketing mix,” says AnyMind Group CEO.

The company intends to launch the tool for other major social media platforms soon along with new features that may include post scheduling and publishing, competitor analysis, keyword analysis and follower analysis. The new tool is available on the CastingAsia platform on a monthly/ yearly subscription basis. Among other features and services available on the platform are: campaign creation, influencer and content management, influencer analysis, attribution and real-time reporting.

Closure of Series B Round in 2019

All companies require funding from time to time to fund their vision and solutions. But the continued cooperation of investors is indicative of the health of a business. Early last year, AnyMind Group closed its Series B funding round through which it had raised an impressive $26.4 million from its investors. The investment round was led by Japan Post Capital. This brought the Group’s total funding to date to $62.3 million. The company counts LINE, VGI, JAFCO Asia, Japan Post Capital, and Tokyo century as its investors.

Meet the Leader

Kosuke Sogo, CEO

As the CEO of AnyMind Group, he oversees the direction of the group’s three business lines: AdAsia, CastingAsia, and TalentMind. Led by this enigmatic leader, AnyMind is one of the fastest growing startups in the world. Prior to founding AnyMind Group, he was the Managing Director, APAC ofMicroAd, Inc.He is in the top 20 of the “Japanese Entrepreneurs Ranking 2020”by Forbes Japan.

He has a B.Com in Management from Nihon University.

“We will continue our commitment to provide new business value which constantly evolves to match changes in the market, creating an environment where our employees can play an active role in driving growth.”

Launching Anime Manga Official in Collaboration

AnyMind Group’s CastingAsia collaborated with Kodansha in April to launch an exciting YouTube channel “Anime Manga Official”. The channel is a great initiative by the company to promote manga outside Japan using YouTube.The channel hosts officially translated and narrated manga titles in English. Among the manga available on the channel are popular titles such as Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, and Initial D.

“Japanese manga has received worldwide acclaim and for a long time, there has been an urge to expand the potential of manga to the world and deliver high-quality content in a more user-friendly form. Kodansha, together with CastingAsia, now has the opportunity to deliver great manga content through video, to the world, and will continue to deliver high-quality Japanese content to the world,” said Kosuke Sogo, CEO of AnyMind Group.

“AnyMind Group provides industries with a suite of technology solutions to enable businesses to drive efficiency and scale.”

“In an ever-changing market environment, we are constantly innovating to provide you with the best solutions.”

“As a fast-growing and fast-evolving business, we have brought in a panel of advisors and experts across various fields to provide us with a unique competitive edge and agility to lead market trends.”

“AnyMind Group has grown exponentially over the years, expanding across geographies and verticals.”