Trap Sushi Party, which brings together anime, hip-hop and video game lovers, has formed a new partnership that could take the brand to a new level. The increasingly popular Black-owned company is now working with Cxmmunity Media, a gaming and esports marketing company, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
Cxmmunity Media, an Atlanta-based company that is also Black-owned, now owns a 15 percent stake in Trap Sushi. The two parties negotiated for months before agreeing to a deal in January.
Trap Sushi founder Tolden “Troop” Williams said he and his wife came up with the idea for the business after they attended an anime convention in Atlanta.
“I was just like, ‘Yo, we actually don’t even have a place for this other than this once-a-year thing that happens with these conventions,'” Williams said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So, I was like I already know how to throw events, let me just, you know, take some of these elements that I already love and then combine them together.”
Only 25 people showed up to the first Trap Sushi event in 2020. The pandemic then forced the business to pause. Trap Sushi, however, came back in 2021 and continued to grow. At least 3,500 people attended the biggest event so far as of May 2023.
With the help of Cxmmunity, Trap Sushi is now transforming into a monthly event instead of every other month. The brand is also going global, starting with an event in Tokyo in April.
“We invested in the Trap Sushi because of the community and everything that Troop’s been able to build, but also Troop as a visionary,” Chris Peay, Cxmmunity’s co-founder and chief marketing officer, told The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Cxmmunity has partnered with several big profile companies, including Twitch, Amazon, Mountain Dew and Spotify. As it moves forward with its newest partner, Cxmmunity will assist in legal, marketing, accounting and other services.
“I don’t look at Trap Sushi as just a party … they’re an IP holder — their parties will turn into TV shows, their TV shows will turn potentially into movies, this could turn into animated series, we’re creating comic books,” Cxmmunity CEO and co-founder Ryan Johnson said.
