Sally
Interactive murder mystery entertainment and creation platform.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor | €0.0 | round |
* | N/A | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Sally, Inc. is a Japanese startup developing a platform for the interactive entertainment genre known as 'Murder Mystery' or 'Madミス' (Madamisu). The company was founded in August 2018 by Eitaro Hiraishi, who serves as CEO. Hiraishi, a student of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Education, encountered murder mystery games in 2020 and was deeply impressed by their unique entertainment value. This experience led the company to pivot from its initial B2B SaaS model to focus on the consumer-facing entertainment market.
The company's core offering is 'Uzu', a voice-chat-enabled mobile application that allows users to play murder mystery games anytime, anywhere. The app features an automated game master function and tools for recruiting players, facilitating a complete game experience within the application. To foster a creator economy, Sally developed 'Uzu Studio', a web-based editor that enables writers to create and publish their own murder mystery scenarios on the Uzu app. Complementing these is 'Madamisu.jp', a comprehensive web portal for searching and booking in-person murder mystery games and logging plays. The business model includes revenue from user spending on paid scenarios and the production of bespoke murder mystery events for corporate clients, often in collaboration with partners in hospitality and entertainment like hotels.
Sally, Inc. operates in the growing niche of experience-based entertainment, a market that has seen significant growth in China and is gaining traction in Japan. The company aims to establish murder mystery as a major entertainment category, not just a sub-genre of games. It has successfully raised 2.4 billion yen in a Pre-Series A funding round to enhance its platform, expand offline events, and develop original intellectual property.
Keywords: murder mystery games, interactive entertainment, Madamisu, Uzu app, creator economy, digital tabletop games, role-playing games, social deduction games, Japanese startup, Uzu Studio, Madamisu.jp, Eitaro Hiraishi, live-action role-playing, entertainment platform, event production, mystery games, group entertainment, mobile gaming, online community, user-generated content