Urbanbase, Strategic Investment by Hanwha Hotels & Resorts... Total Investment Reaches 23 Billion KRW

Recognized for Diverse Metaverse Technologies Validated for Market Viability and Expandability through API/SDK

CEO Jinwoo Ha of Urbanbase (left) and CEO Seok Moon of Hanwha Hotels & Resorts posed after signing the investment contract. Photo by Urbanbase

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Urbanbase Co., Ltd. announced on the 30th that it received a strategic investment worth 13 billion KRW from Hanwha Hotels & Resorts Co., Ltd. Urbanbase's cumulative investment amount now totals 23 billion KRW.

The two companies held an investment contract signing ceremony on the 23rd at The Plaza Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul. This investment was made just two months after signing a business partnership agreement (MOU) to promote new business. Hanwha Group has been actively and boldly investing in new growth engines that will lead the future, such as space internet, hydrogen, and urban air mobility (UAM).

This investment in Urbanbase is also interpreted as a mid- to long-term strategic investment preparing for the post-mobile era called the metaverse. According to global market research firm Strategy Analytics, the global metaverse market size is expected to grow from $30.7 billion (approximately 34.1 trillion KRW) in 2021 to $280 billion (approximately 315 trillion KRW) by 2025.

Urbanbase produces and services core metaverse technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D spaces. In May of this year, it was recognized for its innovation in the metaverse field and selected as one of the '1000 Innovative National Representative Companies' by the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Urbanbase has built 3D virtual worlds for 95% of apartments nationwide, enabling interior simulation through its '3D Interior' service, offers 'All-in-One Augmented Reality' with preference-based AR recommendations via spatial analysis AI, and provides '3D Automatic Modeling,' which forms the foundation of mirror world metaverses. These metaverse technologies and APIs/SDKs have proven product-market fit in the B2B market and are highly valued for their scalability.

Starting with this investment, the two companies will accelerate the construction of a metaverse ecosystem in core business areas such as home furnishing & interior and lifestyle commerce within the construction and real estate industry. Beyond simply connecting their online and offline capabilities and infrastructure, they plan to create a metaverse ecosystem that fully integrates face-to-face and non-face-to-face experiences.

Alongside this, Urbanbase plans to speed up aggressive hiring across all departments to enhance core technologies, improve user experience for B2C services, expand into the Japanese market, and diversify sales and marketing channels for global expansion.

Jinwoo Ha, CEO of Urbanbase, said, "The market and future visions shared by both companies allowed the investment to proceed quickly. We are excited to partner with a strong company like Hanwha and expect to create true innovation through collaboration between startups and large corporations."

Seok Moon, CEO of Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, stated, "We highly evaluated the business potential of Urbanbase’s 3D automatic modeling, VR, and AR technologies as core technologies that can accelerate digital transformation in the construction and real estate-related industries. Based on this investment, Urbanbase will expand into various business areas such as interior, remodeling, and commerce, evolving into a comprehensive lifestyle company that provides differentiated experiences to customers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.