Interview: Team Detonator preps Omnicoach for Japan expansion

It’s not often that you see one of your clients invest money into your company, but that is precisely what happened between Omnicoach and Team Detonator.

Team Detonator — a major Japanese esports organisation — will help AI gamification and monetisation platform Omnicoach make a splash in the Japanese market, which is known for being tough for Western companies to break into.

To discuss the details of the investment and partnership, Esports Insider sat down with Daniel Ágoston, Founder of Omnicoach and Masashi Yamazaki, Founder of Team Detonator.

The investment is new, but the two companies have been working together for four years now. In fact, Detonator was one of Omnicoach’s first customers since the company was founded in 2017, Ágoston said.

“We had two investment rounds in the past, but those were financial investors, not industrial investors”, explained Ágoston “It’s our business model to grow through partnerships, and it’s a great fit. Team Detonator is the biggest esports team in Japan, and the company has huge reach with agencies and brands there.”

Omnicoach and Team Detonator are also aware that having an endemic Japanese company help facilitate deals is a great asset, especially given the language barrier.

Yamazaki also said one big advantage of this partnership is that it helps Detonator diversify its income. The key is to try and generate as many stable business ventures that bring value as possible — which Omnicoach’s offering provides, he said.

“A lot of esports brands are focused on partnerships, and that is a very unstable business… But with our relationship with Omnicoach, there is a big benefit. We can now talk to academies, advertising agencies and others who are interested in working with these solutions.

“We can even talk to bigger companies, so totally different stages. Influencers and players are also looking for new trends and something new. Now they know that Team Detonator is doing something nobody else is doing.”

The first steps in this new-and-improved partnership are already underway. Omnicoach and Detonator have released a B2C artificial intelligence game analysis platform called APgrade in Japan.

Team Detonator is also now offering Omnicoach services, thus adding a new feather to its growing cap. The third goal, according to the two parties, is to establish more serious partnerships with bigger brands and corporations in Japan.

Omnicoach does not intend on opening an office in Japan, but Ágoston hinted that there are plans next year to “speed everything up” regarding the expansion.

Although a high-tech oriented country, and an avid video game consumer, Japan is traditionally on the fence about accepting esports. Omnicoach believes its partnership will help tip the balance, and serve as a gateway to both access and grow the esports audience in Japan.

Supported by Omnicoach