[Comprehensive] SK Square Becomes 'Second Largest Shareholder of Kobit' with 90 Billion KRW Investment... Also Acquires Onmind Shares

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] SK Square, which spun off from SK Telecom as an investment specialist company, is investing approximately 90 billion KRW in the virtual asset exchange Korbit, becoming the second-largest shareholder. It is also acquiring a 40% stake in Onmind, a company possessing 3D digital human production technology.

Launched as an ICT and semiconductor investment specialist company, SK Square has chosen blockchain and the metaverse (extended virtual world) as its first investment destinations after the spin-off, accelerating its efforts to secure a leading position in future ICT sectors. This strategy is interpreted as an effort to build an economic system encompassing both the virtual and real worlds by linking the metaverse platform, which it has identified as a new growth engine, with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and virtual asset exchanges.

◇ Becoming Korbit's Second-Largest Shareholder... Full-Scale Metaverse Collaboration

On the 29th, SK Square announced that it had selected Korbit, Korea's first virtual asset exchange listed on the KOSPI, and Onmind, a subsidiary of Kakao affiliate Neptune, as its first investment targets coinciding with its relisting on the Korea Stock Exchange (KOSPI).

First, SK Square is investing about 90 billion KRW in Korbit, one of Korea's four major virtual asset exchanges, acquiring approximately 35% of its shares and becoming the second-largest shareholder after the largest shareholder NXC. Considering recent trends in the domestic virtual asset trading market, SK Square expects that merely holding shares in Korbit will increase its net asset value. SK Square explained, "We made this investment to secure a leading position in the ICT next platform domain," adding, "The virtual asset exchange business has now fully entered the institutional legalization phase and is expected to become a key pillar of innovative platform businesses in the future."

Korbit's Metaverse Virtual Asset Exchange 'Korbit Town'

Metaverse business collaboration is another area where future synergies are anticipated. Currently, Korbit operates an NFT trading market and the metaverse virtual asset exchange 'Korbit Town.' This business model enables the construction of a metaverse ecosystem by linking with SK Telecom's metaverse platform 'ifland,' content platforms FLO and WAVVE, and the app market One Store. Users of ifland can trade virtual goods in the virtual world and easily purchase and own virtual assets based on the intellectual property (IP) of content owned by WAVVE, FLO, and One Store through the NFT trading market.

3D Digital Human Sua (SUA) Produced by Onmind

Additionally, SK Square has decided to invest 8 billion KRW in Onmind, a 3D virtual human production company affiliated with Kakao, acquiring a 40% stake (including common shares and convertible preferred shares). The alliance with Kakao has expanded from share exchanges and AI super-collaboration to the metaverse.

Onmind is the producer of 'SUA,' a 3D virtual human metaverse celebrity. Future synergies are expected in the existing metaverse business areas, such as implementing more realistic avatars in ifland or creating virtual influencers. By combining the music sources and OTT platforms of FLO and WAVVE with Onmind's digital human technology, high profits could be generated in the entertainment business. The business of creating virtual human celebrities and nurturing them as popular artists is also feasible.

◇ 'SK Metaverse Ecosystem' at a New Starting Point

The decision to invest strongly reflects the judgment that the 'metaverse economy,' where people enjoy and consume in the virtual world, has become an unstoppable trend. It is analyzed that new markets will emerge as new technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, and mobility connect within the metaverse. Facebook's recent name change to Meta is not unrelated to this trend. Park Jung-ho, CEO of SK Square and Vice Chairman of SK Telecom, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the metaverse as a 'next-generation platform.'

SK Telecom's metaverse platform 'ifland'

There is also an assessment that the SK metaverse ecosystem is standing at a new starting point. SK Square plans to solidify the metaverse ecosystem by integrating Korbit's virtual asset exchange, NFT trading market, and metaverse exchange with Onmind's 3D virtual human technology, encompassing SK's existing ifland, FLO, WAVVE, and One Store platforms. Furthermore, within this metaverse ecosystem, they are considering creating an economic system where users can trade various virtual goods such as avatars, virtual spaces, music, and videos, and establishing an environment where virtual goods can be converted into cash at any time through linkage with the virtual asset exchange.

Yoon Poong-young, CIO of SK Square, stated, "SK Square will continue to invest in ICT areas leading future innovation such as blockchain and the metaverse to become an attractive investment specialist company."

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