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The $60B Anime & Manga Boom is Finally Open to Investors

When people hear anime & manga, they think of cartoons and comics. But nowadays, they should be thinking of dollar signs.

The global anime and manga market’s worth $37B, projected to hit $60B by 2030. Which makes TOKYOPOP’s first investment opportunity for outside investors all the more exciting.

TOKYOPOP helped bring anime and manga to the West nearly 30 years ago. Fast forward to today, they’re generating $15M in annual revenue, have 100+ IPs in their portfolio, and distribution across 50+ countries.

They’ve got licensing rights to IP for Disney, Nintendo, Warner Bros., and more, and distribution locked down through Penguin, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and beyond. Now, they’re on a mission to find and scale the next breakout anime franchise.

This is a paid advertisement for TokyoPop Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.tokyopop.com/

The latest data from the week of May 4, 2026, reflects a contraction in overall venture capital activity, continuing a trend of volatility observed in historical reports. While the total capital raised experienced a slight increase, the decline in the volume of deals suggests that investors are prioritizing fewer, more substantial capital injections over a broader spread of smaller investments.

Analysis of recent sector activity highlights a persistent and pervasive focus on Artificial Intelligence across diverse verticals, including healthcare, fintech, enterprise automation, and infrastructure. This thematic consistency demonstrates that AI remains the primary driver of capital allocation, regardless of broader market fluctuations in deal counts. Furthermore, specialized hardware and infrastructure—ranging from GPU-powered cloud services to photonics for data centers—are increasingly attracting funding, indicating a move toward supporting the foundational layer of the AI ecosystem rather than solely focusing on application-layer software.

When compared to previous weeks, such as those documented in the reports for April 28, 2026 and October 2025, the current market behaves similarly to observed periods of consolidation. The data frequently oscillates, alternating between peaks of high activity and necessary pullbacks, which characterizes a mature and selective investor landscape rather than a persistent downward trend. The continued interest in specialized sectors like biotech, fintech, and clean energy, as seen throughout the reports from January 2026 and late 2025, confirms that capital remains available for companies providing tangible solutions to complex, regulated, or industrial problems.

In conclusion, the market is currently balancing risk with strategic, thematic investment. While the weekly fluctuations in deal volume remain significant, the sustained focus on AI-enabled infrastructure and specialized, high-impact technologies suggests a disciplined and resilient venture environment adapting to macro-level conditions.

Last week's funding rounds

49 funding rounds, -38% from last week.

Number of funding rounds - May 4, 2026 by Parsers VC

Total raised $5.8 billion, +2% since last week

Total raised $, bln - May 4, 2026 by Parsers VC

Funding rounds in United States

24 funding rounds, total raised $1.75B

Aidoc | Always on AI (Develops clinical AI solutions for faster, more accurate medical diagnoses) Raises $150M Series E Round from General Catalyst, Goldman Sachs #Diagnostics #AI #SaaS #MedicalImaging #Healthcare

Axoft (Develops implantable Brain-Computer Interfaces using a novel biocompatible material) Raises $55M Series A Round #Biotech #AI #Neurotech #MedicalDevice #Healthcare

Babcock & Wilcox (Provides energy and environmental products/services, specializing in fuel switching technologies) Raises $21M #Engineering #Energy #Renewables #Industrial #Environmental

Bumble (Operates dating and social connection apps, including Bumble, Badoo, and BFF) Raises $475M from STORY3 Capital Partners #Dating #ConsumerTech #AI #SocialNetworking #MobileApp

Clarasight (An AI platform optimizing enterprise travel and expense spend) Raises $11.5M Series A Round from AlleyCorp, Vestigo Ventures, Pulse Fund, Thayer Ventures #Fintech #Enterprise #AI #Travel #SaaS

Creati Studio: Generate Viral Video Ads in Minutes (Develops AI-powered video editing tools for content creators and businesses) Raises $20M from Redpoint Ventures #DeepTech #ContentCreation #AI #VideoEditing #SaaS

Fence (Rebuilds infrastructure for asset-backed finance with a software-driven system) Raises $20M #Automation #AI #SaaS #FinTech #Finance

Hightouch (AI-powered data and marketing platform for personalized campaigns) Raises $150M Series D Round from Y Combinator, Amplify Partners, ICONIQ, Bain Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Goldman Sachs #Automation #AI #SaaS #Marketing #Data

IC Realtime (Provides professional-grade surveillance and security technology solutions) Raises $2M Series A Round #Analytics #AI #Surveillance #Software #Security

JuliaHub (Develops an agentic AI platform for modeling and simulating industrial systems) Raises $65M Series B Round from General Catalyst #DigitalTwins #AI #Software #Simulation #Engineering

Kashable (Offers financial wellness services, including credit monitoring and low-cost credit products, via employer partnerships) Raises $60M Series C Round from Revolution, Goldman Sachs #Credit #B2B #HRTech #FinTech #FinancialWellness

Liquid (A 24/7 multi-asset trading platform offering access to crypto, equities, and more) Raises $18M from General Catalyst, K5 Global, Anti Fund, IFC Venture Capital Group, Paradigm, SVAngel #Crypto #AI #Trading #Investment #Fintech

Liquid Instruments (Pioneers software-defined test solutions, consolidating instruments into a reconfigurable platform) Raises $50M Series C Round #Engineering #AI #TestEquipment #Software #Hardware

Netomi (Provides an agentic customer experience platform for complex, regulated industries) Raises $110M from WndrCo #Automation #AI #SaaS #Enterprise #CustomerExperience

OpenLight (Develops custom photonic application-specific integrated circuits for AI and data centers) Raises $50M from Xora Innovation, New Legacy Group, Mayfield Fund #DataCenters #AI #Semiconductors #Photonics #Optics

Photon (Rebuilding the prescription experience with a full end-to-end platform for informed patient choices) Raises $16M Series A Round from Flare Capital Partners, Notation Capital, Healthier Capital, Evidenced #Healthcare #AI #SaaS #Prescription #Healthtech

pmtbox (An enterprise commerce platform unifying payments, risk, and data for merchants) Raises $15M Seed Round #Payments #Fintech #Commerce #SaaS #RiskManagement

QumulusAI: Breaking AI& Biggest Barriers. (Provides GPU-powered cloud infrastructure for artificial intelligence applications) Raises $45M from ATW Partners #Computing #Cloud #AI #Infrastructure #GPU

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (Advances genetic therapies for rare disorders, focusing on cardiovascular gene therapy) Raises $180M #Cardiology #BioTech #RareDisease #GeneTherapy #ClinicalStage

Rogo (AI platform purpose-built for financial services, automating complex workflows) Raises $160M Series D Round from BoxGroup, MANTIS Venture Capital, Kleiner Perkins, J.P. Morgan, Sequoia Capital #Enterprise #Automation #AI #SaaS #FinTech

SHADE (Unified cloud platform for creative teams to access, search, review, and archive media assets) Raises $14M #Cloud #AI #SaaS #Media #Collaboration

Squads (Builds financial infrastructure on Solana, enabling businesses to operate on stablecoin infrastructure) Raises $18M from Collab+Currency, Jump Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Solana, Electric Capital #Fintech #Blockchain #Stablecoins #Solana #Payments

Techcyte (Provides AI-powered digital diagnostics for anatomic and clinical pathology) Raises $15M #Diagnostics #AI #SaaS #Pathology #Healthcare

Zamp (A vertically integrated sales tax compliance platform offering fully managed services) Raises $30M from aCrew Capital #Compliance #AI #TaxTech #SaaS #Fintech

Funding rounds in United Kingdom

4 funding rounds, total raised $25M

Addenbrooke & Charitable Trust (ACT) (Funds cutting-edge equipment, research, and comforts for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals) Raises $114.5K #Healthcare #Charity #Research #Nonprofit #Medical

Auryx (Builds AI-powered health monitoring platform using sound from consumer devices) Raises $2M Pre-Seed Round from Celero Ventures, PurposeTech #Diagnostics #Audio #AI #Wearables #HealthTech

BioOrbit (Develops in-space manufacturing of cancer therapies for improved drug formulation) Raises $13.35M Seed Round from LocalGlobe, Breega Capital, Seedcamp #Manufacturing #Healthcare #Biotech #SpaceTech #Oncology

StudentCrowd (Provides data and insights for the purpose-built student accommodation sector) Raises $9.46M Series A Round from YFM Equity Partners, Mercia Asset Management #EdTech #Data #SaaS #RealEstate #MarketIntelligence

Funding rounds in India

3 funding rounds, total raised $58M

Ctruh: AI 3D Platform & Editor (Full-stack platform for deploying 3D and XR experiences at scale) Raises $2.5M Seed Round from Anthill Capital Ventures #Platform #AI #3D #XR #SpatialComputing

Data Spectrum (Connects individuals with verified professionals for 1:1 video calls) Raises $211.1K from Subhkam Ventures #EdTech #B2B #Platform #Networking #Expertise

Snabbit (Operates a hyperlocal marketplace for on-demand home services in India) Raises $56M Series D Round from FJ Labs, Nexus Venture Partners at $450M Valuation #India #Hyperlocal #HomeServices #OnDemand #Marketplace

Follow new funding rounds every day on Twitter and Telegram

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