Animoca Brands Makes Investment Worth JPY 100M into Psychic VR Lab

Animoca Brands Japan, a strategic subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Web3 company Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (Animoca Brands), announced a JP100 million strategic investment in Psychic VR Lab's JP1 billion fundraising round in December 2022.

The investment follows a collaboration with Psychic VR Lab in June 2022, according to Animoca Brands.

Psychic VR is a pioneer in the XR (extended reality) field in Japan, operating the XR creative platform "STYLY," which is used by over 50,000 artists worldwide and has a 5 million-download viewer app.

It has evolved into an important piece of infrastructure in the XR era, where the virtual and real worlds merge.

“Looking ahead, the possibilities of real space will be expanded by XR technology, and the value of all urban spaces such as buildings’ atriums and parks will increase with the addition of virtual versions. It will be possible to bring media and entertainment attributes into these spaces,” said Kyoya Okazawa, the Co-Founder of Animoca Brands Japan.

“Through this partnership, we will create new economic opportunities on these digital twins by connecting them with Animoca Brands’ global Web3 ecosystem of over 400 companies, and leverage content from our partner IP holders,” he added.

Masahiro Yamaguchi, Chief Executive Officer of Psychic VR Lab, stated that with the investment from Animoca Brands, a leader in the Web3 ecosystem, the company will accelerate the creation of "Real Metaverse" with its real metaverse platform STYLY.

“We believe that the evolution of technology in the XR / Web3 field will not only change the structure of modern society, but will also fundamentally change people’s lifestyles as a movement of world creation in the history of mankind. We hope to play a great role in this major turning point of history,” he said.

Animoca Brands Japan was founded in 2021 to support Japanese intellectual property and content holders' global Web 3.0 strategies, such as major publishers, brands, education, sports / athletes, artists, and game companies.

It specifically provides a platform that combines IPs with blockchain technology, allowing IP holders to build their own ecosystem in the Web3.0 world by utilising a full stack of Web3.0 services, bridging the gap between Japanese IPs and global fans.

Animoca Brands Japan advances Animoca Brands' mission by establishing a Web3 ecosystem in Japan with partner and portfolio companies such as Psychic VR Lab.

Animoca Brands Japan, like its parent company, sees Web3 as a more equitable virtual society due to its feature of enabling true digital ownership for individuals, which the company believes offers significant economic opportunities in Japan and beyond.

By making strategic investments in the industry, Animoca Brands Japan intends to continue contributing to the advancement of Web3.

The vision of Psychic VR Lab, which was founded in 2016, is to use virtual reality to awaken all humans' psychic power. Its flagship platform, 'STYLY,' is a VR creative platform that allows artists to express themselves in three dimensions.

Creators can use STYLY to create a variety of spaces that allow their imaginations to run wild, such as a conceptual shopping space, installation art, and gallery.

Through those spaces, users can share with the internet world an experience that reality has never seen before.