'23segi Aideul' Raises 1.2 Billion KRW Seed Investment from Kakao Ventures and Others

Virtual Artist Production Company
Kakao Ventures, FuturePlay, Fast Ventures Investment

Startup '23rd Century Kids,' which creates virtual artists active in the digital world, announced on the 25th that it has secured 1.2 billion KRW in seed (early-stage) investment from Kakao Ventures, FuturePlay, and Fast Ventures.

The global virtual artist market is expected to reach 23 trillion KRW by 2028. 23rd Century Kids plans to showcase virtual artists who naturally interact with fans in various settings such as live performances and fan meetings through real-time motion capture rendering and toon shading techniques based on game engines. The company aims to present artists who go beyond enjoying creative works to sharing journeys of communication, empathy, and support.

Following the investment, the company will accelerate the production of a virtual boy group. Targeting a debut in the first half of next year, they are focusing on refining each member’s character and diversifying content where fans can engage with the artists. They also plan to recruit experts in game engines and visual effects (VFX) to establish a high-quality virtual entertainment system.

23rd Century Kids is a team optimized to plan and realize virtual entertainment business, led by CEO Kim Hyung-min, who gained new business development experience at Socar, and composed of experts in game engines, VFX, webtoon artists, and social network service (SNS) creators. Drawing on deep immersion in various content fields such as K-pop, animation, musicals, and games, they plan to produce diverse content and present a new direction for the virtual idol market.

Ahn Hye-won, senior investment manager at Kakao Ventures who led the investment, said, “This team has an overwhelming understanding of fandom community building and management,” adding, “We expect them to establish themselves as a leading entertainment company in the virtual idol market through a fast and flexible intellectual property (IP) development approach.”

CEO Kim Hyung-min stated, “We will continuously create touchpoints between virtual artists and the public, presenting unprecedented fun and charm of a new era,” and added, “We will grow into a future entertainment company that inspires the world with experimental visuals and innovative content.”

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