Dunamu, Naver Z invest $8.5 mn in metaverse firm Persona Space

Persona Space, a subsidiary of South Korean metaverse company Galaxy Corp., said on Dec. 16 it has attracted 10 billion won ($8.5 million) investment from Naver Z Corp., the operator of Korean major metaverse platform Zepeto, and Dunamu Inc., the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. The three parties will cooperate in creating metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) services.

Persona Space produces virtual human characters and avatars of Korean entertainers. The company develops and commercializes each entertainer’s so-called bukae, meaning a second or an alternate persona in Korean. Using the bukaes’ intellectual property rights, the company will launch a metaverse program, titled Bukae's Heyday, and air it on a local TV channel on Dec. 19.

The story revolves around five groups of bukaes looking for happiness amid the Blue virus pandemic in Saeul city, the capital of Persona planet in the metaverse space. The cast members include the bukaes of some Korean top celebrities – comedy show host Yoo Se-yoon, rapper Mommy Son, singer Insooni, actress Kang Ye-bin, singer Young Ji and TV host Song Hae. Content related to their Bukaes will be commercialized as a form of NFT. The virtual city will enable e-commerce and financial transactions in the future, Persona Space said.

Dunamu is accelerating investment in entertainer content NFTs. In November, the crypto operator and HYBE Co., the music label behind BTS, partnered to launch NFTs. Dunamu announced it will purchase 2.3 million new stocks in HYBE for 700 billion won, while HYBE said it will buy 861,004 new shares in Dunamu for 500 billion won. They will release NFTs of music artists, including BTS, the industry sources said at the time.  

The operator of Zepeto is expanding its metaverse businesses including gaming, communicating with 3D avatars and making money through fashion items. Naver Z attracted two investments in early December -- it received a 5 billion won investment from Krafton Inc., Korea's leading game developer. It also secured $190 million from Softbank and other investors, including HYBE, YG Entertainment Inc. of girl group Blackpink, JYP Entertainment Inc. of girl group TWICE, Mirae Asset Capital and Mirae Asset Consulting, in a Series B fundraising round for its global business expansion.

Write to Min-jun Suh at morandol@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edtied this article.