The metaverse fund announced by the South Korean government is focused on boosting the growth and development of companies related to this sector.
South Korea continues to pay attention to the Metaverse as a new driver of economic growth, the country's Ministry of Science, Information and Communications Technology said in a recent statement.
As a result, the government has created a 400.000 billion won metaverse fund, about $305 million, to actively support domestic companies related to the virtual world. The South Korean government is allocating 240.000 billion won to this fund and hopes to raise the other 160.000 billion won in private investment.
The South Korean government's interest in the metaverse is further heightened by the launch of this fund.
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A fund to encourage the development of the metaverse
South Korea says that through this fund it will promote different initiatives of its national companies with the aim of investing and developing the virtual world. National companies will become central companies that will be able to compete with large corporations and global companies that are part of the metaverse environment to lead its development, the ministry said.
The new metaverse fund, titled “Metaverse Mergers and Acquisitions Fund”, is intended to support the merger and acquisition of companies related to the virtual world, as well as helping national companies in their development to compete with other global projects in the sector.
The metaverse is presented as an emerging economic activity, so in addition to supporting the growth of national companies, the new fund created by the South Korean government will also facilitate the creation of special services within this sector and will even promote the development of new projects and initiatives in the early stages within the region.
Metaverse, a new engine of economic growth
Oh Yong-su, a software policy officer at the Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology, says the current global economic landscape has dampened interest from investors and venture capitalists, so the South Korean government is focused on providing support to its early-stage companies.
South Korea will accept proposals for investment and management of metaverse companies until April 10.
Seoul develops its own virtual world
In mid-January, the metropolitan government of Seoul, the South Korean capital, unveiled a virtual replica of the city through its Metaverse Seoul project. The launch of the first phase of its metaverse project required an investment of $1,6 million.
Currently, the Seoul government continues to work on the development and evolution of Metaverse Seoul in order to offer its citizens an interactive space where they can access different services, from social to entertainment and tourism.
Seoul wants to provide its citizens and residents with a virtual convergent environment that allows them, through their avatars, to interact with other people in the metaverse, to learn about the tourist potential of the city and the country in general, such as its culture and politics, as well as to visit the iconic sites of the city. Even, through Metaverse Seoul, the city is evaluating the possibility of addressing access to other areas and sectors, such as education, legal document management through virtual offices, online buying and selling, among many others.
With all of the above, it is clear that the South Korean government is determined to make the country a world leader in metaverse technologies.
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