Afun Interactive Raises 10 Billion KRW Investment from CJ ENM and Others... Expanding Metaverse

Apun Interactive's 3D virtual musician character Apoki (APOKI) created using real-time rendering technology

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] 3D content creation startup Aifun Interactive (CEO Kwon Do-gyun) announced on the 6th that it has secured an investment of approximately 10 billion KRW from investors including CJ ENM.

It is evaluated that the company has confirmed its growth potential through core IPs such as APOKI in the upcoming metaverse market. Aifun Interactive explained that the investment funds will be used for business expansion of major IPs like APOKI, development of new IPs, and creation of metaverse-type content.

An Aifun Interactive official said, "This investment attraction recognizes our excellent technological capabilities and future growth potential," adding, "Through collaboration with investor CJ ENM, we will expand business areas such as the metaverse and enter the global market successfully."

Aifun Interactive produces 3D content in-house based on globally recognized real-time rendering technology. Recently, it developed APOKI, a virtual celebrity gaining attention.

APOKI is a K-POP-based virtual musician who started on YouTube in April 2019 and currently has accumulated 24 million views on YouTube and 120 million views on TikTok. In July this year, APOKI was ranked 5th in the Global Virtual Influencer Top 100 selected by the global company HTC VIVE, demonstrating its growing influence.

Through business cooperation with CJ ENM, Aifun Interactive released APOKI’s single album. Starting with the digital single "Get it Out" in February, it distributed original songs such as "Coming back" in June. The third single release is also scheduled for November.

APOKI has engaged in various activities including the Amazon Online Music Concert , M2 , tvN , and Mdromeda , with related videos recording over 6 million views.

Aifun Interactive is actively advancing its metaverse business through APOKI. Last year, ‘APOKI’ held an XR live streaming concert with global star Henry under Tencent Music Entertainment, attracting over 10 million simultaneous viewers.

Recently, the company formed a strategic business alliance with Naver affiliate Line Friends for joint planning and production of digital IP as well as developing new business models through collaboration. It also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a local US corporation and Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, for NFT issuance.

Park Jun-ho, head of the IP Business Team at CJ ENM Music Content Headquarters, stated, "By combining CJ ENM’s music production capabilities and media infrastructure with Aifun Interactive’s digital technology expertise, we plan to respond to the rapidly changing entertainment digital convergence environment and the core IP business of the metaverse."

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