From distributing through channels to globalizing its own IP, the European and American IP card company "Crossing" has completed a tens of millions of Series A financing | 36Kr exclusive.

Written by Xue Dexing

Edited by Liu Shiwu

36Kr exclusively learned that the European and American IP card company "Crossing" completed a Series A financing of 6 million US dollars in May this year, led by Yuewen Group. Crossing was established in Los Angeles, USA in mid-2021, with the core business model of IP card products + live-streaming e-commerce. "It has now grown into a leading TCG card company in the United States," said founder Taylor Tang.

Crossing's founder, Taylor Tang, is a serial entrepreneur. His previous startups received millions of US dollars in financing from ByteDance and was rated as one of the Forbes China Global Chinese TOP 100 in 2022 and one of the Top 10 Outstanding Young Chinese Americans in 2023.

It is understood that Crossing started with overseas live-streaming e-commerce services and completed a ten-million-yuan angel round of financing in the early stage of its establishment. At the beginning of its establishment, the team mainly focused on areas such as beauty, 3C digital, and clothing. It has equipment and operation teams in Los Angeles, USA, London, UK, and Shenzhen, China, while serving international and Chinese brands to go global, becoming one of the first players in TikTok's overseas live-streaming e-commerce.

From Live-Streaming E-commerce to IP Cards, A New Card Brand with Omni-Channel Layout

In early 2022, after accumulating sufficient experience in the field of live-streaming e-commerce, Crossing targeted the IP card category and quickly transformed and developed into a new card brand with an omni-channel layout. Relying on its existing channel advantages, the company currently sells 360,000 cards online every day. As of the first half of 2024, the cumulative sales have exceeded 50 million US dollars.

Crossing Online Card Live-Streaming

Currently,Crossing has nearly 20 online live-streaming rooms in the United States and has opened 5 self-operated offline stores in cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Tokyo. As of this year, Crossing has held over a hundred offline card battle tours. The flagship store in Culver City has become a popular gathering place for card enthusiasts in the Los Angeles area, attracting a large number of players and collectors.

In addition, offline card exhibitions are also important trading and interactive activities in the American card circle. There are more than 200 card exhibitions in the United States every year, spread across dozens of large cities in the United States. Founder Taylor Tang introduced: "In the past year, our self-operated products have appeared in more than 90 card exhibitions. Through the comprehensive layout of multiple online and offline channels, Crossing has gradually established its leading position in the TCG card field in the United States."

Crossing Offline Store Card Battle

Diversified Self-Owned IPs, Creating the Next "Labubu"

In the fields of sports cards and TCG (Trading Card Game), Crossing has reached in-depth cooperation with multiple popular IPs through licensing and cooperation, and the annual turnover of several self-owned IP single products has exceeded one million.

In the field of sports cards, Crossing has obtained the exclusive copyright for the card issuance of the Olympia Competition (Mr. Olympia), the largest bodybuilding event in the world; in the field of anime cards, the company has signed the overseas card copyright of Yuewen Group's top IP "Lord of Mysteries" and well-known IPs such as "The King of Fighters SNK".

Some of Crossing's Self-Owned IPs

In the process of deepening the strategic layout and expanding the IP territory, Crossing is also exerting efforts in the field of self-developed IPs. It has joined hands with the internationally renowned DJ and TikTok influencer with 50 million fans, Steve Aoki, to jointly create the American original trendy IP HiroQuest series.

The HiroQuest Trading Card Game has received a good market response. It encountered a rush to purchase in the early stages of its launch, and there was a premium in the secondary market. Crossing also specially launched the HiroQuest limited skateboard, which made a stunning appearance in a large-scale live-streaming event at the launch of the card. All the skateboards were sold out within 4 hours of the first live-stream, further expanding the influence boundary of HiroQuest.

According to 36Kr, HiroQuest is about to collaborate with the world's top ski equipment brand Burton to jointly launch a limited-edition snowboard, deepening HiroQuest's in-depth influence in the sports field. In addition, Crossing is actively promoting cooperation with multiple world-class sports brands, hoping to further enrich the IP derivative matrix of HiroQuest through diversified co-branded products, achieving in-depth integration and wide coverage of cross-border operations.

Some time ago, the original IP trendy toy Labubu under Pop Mart became popular in Thailand, and the first theme store set the highest single-day sales record for Pop Mart's overseas stores, showing the possibility of IP trendy toys in the overseas market. "As Crossing's carefully crafted self-operated flagship IP, HiroQuest also shows the unlimited potential of American local original trendy IPs in the card and more trendy derivative fields," Taylor Tang added.

Steve Aoki and the Premiere of the Co-branded Skateboard

Local Operating Strategy and Global Planning

As a Chinese entrepreneur who has settled in the United States for 10 years, Taylor Tang adheres to the strategy of local operation and global expansion. In the US market, Crossing has a local employee team accounting for more than 80%, deeply integrating into the local culture and establishing a close emotional connection with consumers through a common cultural gene.

After stabilizing its leading position in the US TCG card market, Crossing quickly expanded to Japan, the second-largest market for card derivatives globally. Once again, it adopts a fully localized team strategy to meet the needs and preferences of Japanese consumers. On the opening day of Crossing's flagship store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, a large number of customers queued up. Some Japanese consumers specially took the Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo, and the scene was lively.

Crossing Japan Store Opening

For the future plan, Crossing hopes to expand the cooperation in the upstream and downstream of IP in the next step, collaborate with more content creators, licensors, and derivative developers, and continuously expand its influence among global consumers. Founder Taylor Tang said: "Crossing hopes to start from the cultural carrier of cards, through the development and global distribution of diversified derivatives, endow IP with a deeper cultural value, and create a global bridge that links culture, conveys emotions, and creates resonance value."