The Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea established an investment fund to support the growth of metaverse initiatives in the country
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According to the official announcement of South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, the national government invested 24 billion Korean won ($18.1 million) in a fund of a total worth over 40 billion Korean won ($30.2 million) aimed at metaverse projects development.
In particular, the Metaverse Fund will support the mergers and acquisitions of various firms in the metaverse ecosystem of South Korea. In addition, the government intends to help domestic metaverse-related companies which find it hard to raise capital through private VCs, because of the underlying investment risks.
Notwithstanding numerous collapses linked to the crypto ecosystem, the South Korean government noted the rising interest of major tech companies in the metaverse. That became one of the major reasons to invest in the given fund.
In January, the Seoul Metropolitan Government opened the city’s first metaverse project – the new virtual environment allowing residents to virtually visit many of Seoul’s attractions, access official documents, file complaints, and receive help with filing municipal taxes.
Overall, the country has been very active in metaverse development since the beginning of 2022. Within the first three quarters of the last year, South Korea invested almost $200 million in the creation of its own metaverse ecosystem and proposed the enactment of the Metaverse Industry Promotion Act to support the Web3 industry.
Besides, the Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea decided to issue new dedicated metaverse legal guidelines for incentivizing the growth of the budding Metaverse ecosystem.
