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Crunchyroll's Royalty Payments to Anime Industry Have Surpassed US$100 Million
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Anime streaming website Crunchyroll told entertainment news source The Hollywood Reporter that it has contributed US$100 million in royalties to the Japanese industry. Crunchyroll confirmed with ANN that the milestone was reached late last year.
Crunchyroll also noted to The Hollywood Reporter that women make up half of Crunchyroll's user base.
The website launched in 2007 as a streaming service offering anime titles without authorization, but in 2008 it secured raised US$4.05 million in its first-round funding from Venrock an began licensing titles for streaming.
Crunchyroll announced a joint venture to co-produce anime with Sumitomo Corporation in 2015. It has since invested in more than 40 anime productions, including this season's A Place Further Than the Universe, Citrus, How to keep a mummy, Toji no Miko, Laid-Back Camp, Junji Ito "Collection", and Ms. Koizumi loves ramen noodles. Crunchyroll also produced URAHARA, an anime adaptation of Patrick Macias and Mugi Tanaka's webcomic PARK Harajuku: Crisis Team!, which runs on Crunchyroll. Last July, Crunchyroll announced a partnership with NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan to co-develop new anime titles.
Sumitomo is also partnering with The Chernin Group. The Chernin Group acquired a majority stake in Crunchyroll in December 2013. The Chernin Group and AT&T formed the joint venture Otter Media in 2014, and it operates Crunchyroll's parent company Ellation.
As of February 2017, Crunchyroll's streaming service has reached more than one million subscribers. The site also has more than 20 million registered users. Crunchyroll is also partnering with Funimation to cross-stream anime content and to offer titles on home video via Funimation.
Crunchyroll launched a manga service in 2013. Crunchyroll, Sumitomo Corporation, and GREE also signed an agreement last August for the localization and distribution of games based on anime for North America and other overseas markets.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (Gavin J. Blair)
