Special effects company raises 10 billion won for metaverse

A logo of eNgine Visual Wave. [NEXT ENTERTAINMENT STUDIO]

The company responsible for the special effects in soon-to-be-released horror animation “Hellbound” and “Concrete Utopia” has raised 10 billion won ($8.6 million) to bring its skills to the metaverse.

Hisstory Investment Management, HI Investment & Securities, LK and Lee Ventures made the investment in eNgine Visual Wave, according to Next Entertainment World (NEW), 58.3 percent owner of the special effects company.

eNgine Visual Wave was established in July 2019.

It skills in the creation of metahumans, also known as avatars, attracted the investors. The company’s research and development (R&D) lab is capable of creating virtual influencers using 4-D facial scanning and rigging technology, scanning people's faces and rendering them onto digital screens in the most natural way possible.

eNgine Visual Wave also announced Tuesday it invested 2 billion won in 3D Factory, a virtual reality (VR) and hologram production company, on Aug. 17. 3D Factory led the creation of applications such as Real Madrid Virtual World, which allows people to roam around the soccer team's stadium using VR.

eNgine Visual Wave plans to use 3D Factory’s various virtual production capabilities to make NEW-produced content alive in metaverse.

“We expect to create positive synergy from the partnership with eNgine Visual Wave and 3D Factory,” said eNgine Visual Wave CEO Lee Sung-gyu. “The projects that eNgine Visual Wave obtained and our R&D developments helped us receive the investment, and we will do our best to venture into the metaverse field and become a technology hub of NEW.”

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]