South Korea’s city gas and energy group Daesung’s venture capital subsidiary recently established a fund worth 110 billion Korean won (about US$84.5 million) for expanding investments into startups in the metaverse industry, local media outlets reported Thursday.
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Fast facts
Daesung Private Equity announced Wednesday the launch of the Daesung Metaverse Scale-up Fund, which the company claims to be the largest metaverse fund in South Korea, according to local reports. The fund will focus its investments in startups specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), blockchain and digital twin technologies.Korea Venture Investment Corp., the country’s government-backed fund of funds, invested 60 billion won (US$46 million), with other limited partners including the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Shinhan Capital Co. Ltd. and other subsidiaries of the Daesung Group.Daesung Private Equity has previously invested in PUBG: Battlegrounds game maker KRAFTON and Korea-based crypto exchange Upbit operator Dunamu Inc.Established in 1947, Daesung Group operates oil, gas and renewable energy company Daesung Industrial Co., Ltd., which in 2021 recorded a revenue of 793 billion won (about US$610 million), and seven other sizable subsidiaries, according to its website.Earlier this year in February, South Korea’s science ministry announced a 223.7 billion won (about US$172 million today) investment in growing the nation’s metaverse ecosystem.
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