South Korea launches $50 Million Metaverse fund

Even though the metaverse hype is declining in many places, this is not the case in South Korea. It has launched a metaverse fund to support metaverse projects. $21 million will be allocated to local services that use the metaverse and $30 will help startups in expansion. This was revealed by the country’s ministry of science and ICT. South Korea believes the metaverse has a big potential in being a growth engine.

The country aims to improve services by encouraging innovation. The $21 million will aid up to 13 projects in different sectors such as healthcare, tourism, and education. The other $30 million allocated for startups will encourage smaller companies in the metaverse to actively go for mergers and acquisitions so that they can achieve global expansion. According to the government, there is a rising interest in major tech companies in the metaverse and that is why it considers the fund important. It believes that it is hard for local companies to raise funds through private investments due to the risks involved. The ministry believes that mergers and acquisitions will give local companies the chance to compete globally.

This is not the first time South Korea is investing in the metaverse. Back in February 2022, it invested up to $185 million to aid in developing the metaverse ecosystem. This led to a growth of companies from both the private and public sectors in the metaverse.

According to a Cointelegraph report, there is a digital replica of Seoul in the metaverse. The government spent about $1.6 billion on it in its first phase. South Korea is aware of the threats in the other world and has its eyes on it. As a security measure, in February it announced sanctions for all crypto-related thefts and cyber attacks against suspects.