Anipen raises 17 billion won in Series B funding

Anipen, a developer of metaverse platforms and underlying technologies, announced on the 17th that it had closed a KRW 17 billion Series B funding round. Valued at more than 2.5 times its previous valuation, the company plans to accelerate development of its metaverse platform and expand its technology. It has also appointed Daishin Securities as lead underwriter as it prepares for an IPO.

Anipen has drawn attention for projects including a cultural heritage metaverse combining augmented reality and XPS (eXtended Positioning System) technology with the metaverse, and a commerce and communications-based metaverse that supports multiple IPs. The company also demonstrated its strong technical capabilities by earning “Very Good (TI-2),” the highest rating, in Korea Enterprise Data’s investment-focused Technology Credit Evaluation (TCB) for its “technology for producing immersive content and developing metaverse platforms.”

The Series B round this year included new investors Korea Development Bank, Daishin Securities, ATU Partners, and Neo Value, as well as existing investors Almus Investment and Medici Investment. Anipen raised approximately KRW 30 billion in cumulative investment from 2021 to 2022.

Anipen’s key businesses include its cultural heritage metaverse (a cultural heritage content app combining AR, XPS technology, and the metaverse); a commerce and communications-based metaverse supporting multiple IPs (an XR commerce and communications platform); Catch! Teenieping AR, Robocar Poli World AR, and Pororo World AR (mobile games combining AR and characters); Mini Force World (a metaverse for kids); and Kakao Friends Photo Booth (an AR kiosk for taking photos and videos with 3D characters, operated at the Kakao Friends Gangnam flagship store). The company is nearing 14 million cumulative downloads across its services.

Anipen CEO Jeon Jae-woong said, “This Series B investment has given us the resources to build Anipen’s own metaverse service, combining augmented reality and artificial intelligence with a communications platform.” He added, “Rather than pursuing an abstract concept with no tangible substance, all of our employees will work together and devote themselves to developing technology that creates metaverse services that genuinely help users.”