Samsung Asset Management, South Korea’s biggest asset manager, has launched a fund tied to a virtual world known as the metaverse.
Fast facts:
- The Samsung Global Metaverse fund is the second metaverse-themed fund to come to market in the country following KB Asset Management’s KB Global Metaverse Economy fund, which launched on June 14 and has attracted around US$4.8 million of investment.
- The metaverse is a virtually enhanced, shared 3D universe that has a strong connection to the virtual worlds found in online games.
- Samsung’s metaverse fund invests in eight themes: two investment groups focused respectively on cloud computing and virtual reality, and six groups linked respectively to online gaming, online payments, 3D design tools, platform businesses, mobility and the luxury goods industry.
- Both Samsung and KB’s funds invest in Roblox and Naver. Roblox is a gaming platform that allows users to control 3D avatars to play and create user content in a virtual world. Naver operates ZEPETO, an augmented reality avatar service that has gained global popularity among young people.
- Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the virtual and augmented reality market, upon which the metaverse is based, will grow in value from US$46.4 billion in 2019 to US$1.5 trillion in 2030.