Our Story
Today we are excited to share what we’ve been working on at POW! Interactive, a group focused on partnering with creative teams across fan-driven industries like video games, hobby, collectibles and entertainment. At POW! Interactive, we acquire, fund and operate creatively-driven companies with a vision to build an entertainment group run on long-term community building rather than short-term bottom line return.
We started POW! because we love games and we feel like there should be more voices in the business and investment world of games who share that passion. We're excited to share that we have raised $20M in funding led by Roystone Capital Management and Uken Games, with participation from Anti Fund and other leaders across the space, to build a group whose primary goal will be to recapture the childhood wonder we all felt touching the franchises we grew up on.
The world of games and "nerdom" is booming, we've spent our careers working within consulting firms, investment companies and gaming companies seeing the business metrics that signal growth and success in our industry. We've also seen a worrying trend where this growth has attracted executives and investors who do not always fully appreciate the intricacies of fandom. Nowadays, criticisms of "loot boxes," "pay to win" and "cash grab" plague our industry. We aim to change the narrative by truly bridging the world of business and creativity with a fresh approach.
Our goal is to capitalize on the current moment and lead companies in our space to success. The team’s experience as longtime gaming enthusiasts, operators and early investors in major projects, such as Voldex, BigBrain, Pearpop, WOMBO and more has afforded us a unique advantage where we can identify and build upon ideas both new and old in the entertainment space
Our First Community: Acquiring Jasco Games
Jasco Games is the first company we have acquired to be a part of our group. In the gaming space, Jasco Games is a legendary publisher of card games, board games and figurines. They’ve built products for well known IPs such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Mega Man, Cowboy Bepop, Yu Yu Hakusho, and more.
Jasco’s team stood out to us because they are market leaders in the hobby games space and stand alone as the sole mid-market player competing head on with the largest brands, who are slower to innovate, and the small competitors, who lack resources. Jasco also has a unique opportunity to create the next generation card game using the My Hero Academia IP.
Crunchyroll, the world's largest collection of anime, identified My Hero Academia as the most streamed anime in global markets including Canada, Mexico and beyond, and the second most demanded TV show in the U.S. this past summer. Off the heels of this success, the My Hero Academia Collectible Card Game launched in October 2021 in over 1,000 hobby stores across North America, and quickly rose to the sixth most sold item on TCGPlayer.com in October 2021.
The card game has become the largest trading card game Discord server, boasting over 25K+ members as a lively environment where players organize and compete every day. Jasco Games recently announced a $250K cash prize for its world championship, a prize pool that rivals that of the top collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering or Pokemon.
The My Hero Academia CCG is powered by Jasco Games’ UniVersus framework, where various IPs can be played within the same card game. The UniVersus System allows players to battle each other with their favorite characters from different shows or video games creating all new storylines as they play. With UniVersus, we can pursue new IPs as they grow in popularity, which creates an environment where, for the first time, multiple game communities can congregate, connect, and play.
Most importantly, UniVersus serves as a foundation that will allow us to build complex and long-lasting games. The stage is set, and we have already begun the ideation process in the hopes of making more games like this a reality.
The Future for POW! Interactive
One of our major priorities at the moment is continuing to build out our stellar team. As a firm, we will continue to identify, back, and advise companies that change our perceptions of interactive gaming spaces. If you work in this exciting field and are interested in connecting with us, please reach out to our Chief of Staff, Zoe Shankweiler at zoe@powbackstage.com.
We take pride in working with so many fantastic leaders and entrepreneurs who are changing how society identifies community spaces. Together, we believe we can reshape what the world of gaming looks like and are excited for what’s ahead.