Anime discovery platform Kitsu funded by VIZ Media

Kitsu, a startup that plans to change the way we experience anime, announced that it has managed to raise $600,000 US in seed funding from VIZ Media, and Philippines-based entrepreneur Bernard Chong. Kitsu will use these funds to develop its content discovery platform at kitsu.io, led by founder and CEO Josh Fabian, who initially launched his project as Hummingbird in 2013.

“What makes me most excited about where Kitsu is going is how easy it’s going to be to connect with other anime and manga fans,” said Fabian. “We’ve been very proactive and thoughtful about how exactly to approach the social component of anime, and we think what we have will continue to drive that conversation moving forward.”

From now on, Kitsu will grow as a community that helps anime and manga fans track, share and discover more of what they love. Through a world-class recommendation engine layered with social, machine learning and more, Kitsu goes beyond the traditional “what to watch next” mode of thinking, becoming a one-of-a-kind player in content discovery for anime and manga.