Invests in U.S. Entertainment Content Startup Wave

LG Innotek’s recruitment briefing through the metaverse in May

LG Group has started to invest in the metaverse, a word made up of the prefix "meta" (meaning beyond) and the stem "verse" from universe. It means the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the Internet.

LG Technology Ventures recently invested in U.S. startup Wave, a company specializing in virtual entertainment content. The specific amount of investment was kept under wraps. LG is planning to start developing entertainment content and services in partnership with Wave.

The startup won recognition for its technology by offering more than 50 virtual reality-based live concerts by world-class musicians, including John Legend and Lindsey Sterling. Global record labels Warner Music of the United States and Tencent Music of China also invested in Wave in 2021 and 2020, respectively.

The size of the global metaverse market is expected to grow to 315 trillion won in 2035, said market research company Strategy Analytics (SA). Global accounting consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicted that the metaverse-related VR and AR market will grow 34 times from US$45.5 billion in 2019 to US$ 1,542.9 billion in 2030.

Roblox, a popular metaverse platform in the United States, racked up 700 billion won in sales in the first quarter of 2021 alone. Naver's Zepeto has 200 million users around the world.

LG Technology Ventures, which led LG Group's investment in the metaverse, is leading the search for future growth drivers. It also manages a US$425 million fund invested in by six major LG Group affiliates -- LG Electronics, LG Display, LG Chem, LG Energy Solution, LG Uplus, and LG CNS. The company has thus far invested a total of US$150 million in about 30 startups and four venture capital companies.

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution