S. Korea energy conglomerate builds US$84M metaverse fund

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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