🎥 Metaproof Media, Entertainment, IP

Hey friends, this is Sophia from 🎥 Metaproof Media, Entertainment, IP, the weekly newsletter where we keep you informed on how the metaverse and web3 are changing the media, entertainment, and IP industry.

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💌 A quick thanks to our friends…

Shout out to this week’s sponsor CyberBrokers. A project with futuristic, cyberpunk art and immersive storytelling, CyberBrokers tells an exciting story that takes users through the world of the Paradigm Lost. Create, collect, game, and experience in this journey that brings the metaverse to life. Expand your reality today and go explore the Paradigm Lost. Check them out here!

📲 By the numbers

Meta Platforms (META) continued to bleed money in its Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) division, which comprises its augmented and virtual reality operations. Some numbers (Source):

• FRL accounted for a loss of $4.3B in the quarter, better than the consensus of analyst estimates for a loss of $4.4B and up from a loss of $3.7B in the third quarter.

• For 2022, Meta lost $13.7B in the division on revenue of $2.2B, up from a loss of $10.2B on revenue of $2.3B in 2021.

• Meta reported fourth-quarter FRL revenue of $727M, down from year-ago division revenue of $877M, but up from $285M in the third quarter.

📫 News & trends

🤝 Brave Group announces its alliance with Animoca Brands to boost web3 initiatives

In the world of digital entertainment, the Brave Group and Animoca Brands Japan have come together in an alliance to drive forward the development of web3 and intellectual properties (IPs) in the industry.

Established in 2017, Brave Group is engaged in several verticals in the metaverse, such as its IP business handling RIOT MUSIC and Vspo. Animoca, set up in October 2021, is actively engaged in creating its own web3 ecosystem, heavily investing in blockchain games, the metaverse, DeFi, and crypto wallets across the globe.

The Brave Group, whose CEO Keito Noguchi dubbed it synonymous with the building of high-end IPs, has announced funding of approximately 300M yen with the newly formed alliance. The fund is likely going toward overall expansion plans and work on global development in the virtual space; together with it, the firm’s overall funding now reaches 3.04B yen. The Brave Group aims to "Strike Wonder in 8 billion hearts" through its IP development, while Animoca seeks to back the development of prime Japanese IPs, thus its alliance with Brave.

🔥 Hume x CAA takes off

Hume, an LA-based web3 music company that creates digital artists, has announced that its growing roster of metastars will be represented by the world’s leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents some of the most iconic artists on earth including Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, and Beyonce.

With the partnership, Hume’s metastars including Angel Baby and Clio are now officially part of CAA’s roster of groundbreaking artists. “From day 1, our goal was to create iconic virtual artists who could go on to become household names while defining a new genre in entertainment,” Hume wrote on Twitter, adding that the partnership is bringing them one step closer to that dream through the expansion of its reach and ability to grow across the entertainment space.

😎 Bondee Lets Filipinos hang out in the metaverse

Bondee, a new social media app, is quickly gaining popularity in the Philippines. The app allows users to interact with each other via personalized avatars, engaging in virtual activities such as camping, dancing, and sailing. Here’s what you can do on Bondee:

• Instead of uploading a photo of yourself, create a 3D digital character or avatar to represent you.

• Change your character’s facial features, skin color, hair, clothes, and other accessories.

• Improve how your digital space looks. Think of it as your “room” or “house” in Bondee, adding chairs, beds, and other indoor fixtures until it looks nice for you and your friends.

• Bondee allows users to register up to 50 words at the time of writing. After linking with other Bondee users, your spaces will link into a “plaza.”

• Tap your friend’s spaces to see what they’re doing and leave messages.

Bondee is the number one free social app on the Philippine Google Play Store these days. It does not currently offer NFTs in the country, although this could change in the future. In Singapore, the Metadream app offers NFTs, where the Bondee’s privacy policy lets users create a “blockchain-based wallet” in the app. Then they could purchase the in-game currency B-Beans, which lets people buy accessories as NFTs.

💰 Web3 media platform Storyco raises $6M seed funding to create decentralized media franchises

StoryCo, a web3 media platform, has just announced the closing of a $6M seed round and the launch of its token-gated storytelling platform. This funding round was co-led by Collab + Currency and Patron, and represents a significant milestone for the company.

Its first production, The Disco Ball, is an interactive narrative written by Kyle Killen that promises to be an exciting new addition to the web3 media landscape. Its interactive narrative will unfold across the StoryCo site, social media, and real-world interactions, where the StoryCo community would have to decipher puzzles, discover artifacts, and solve quests as the story unfolds. With the token-gated platform, fans and creators can work together to build media franchises and participate in their success.

StoryCo may not be the first platform to have raised funds for decentralized media IP, yet the company's unique approach to token-gated storytelling sets it apart from other platforms such as Shibuya, Invisible Universe, and Toonstar.

🎙️ Van Heusen and PartyNite Metaverse host virtual concert ‘When Chai Met Toast’ in the metaverse

Van Heusen and PartyNite Metaverse team up to host the virtual musical concert Van Heusen Metaplay, slated for February 2 at 6PM and featuring Indian pop band When Chai Met Toast,. The band, composed of lead vocalist Ashwin Gopakumar, Guitarist Achyuth Jaigopal, Keyboardist Palee Francis, and Drummer Pai Sailesh, will perform in the metaverse for the first time and will play six of their popular tracks in a 30-minute show.

Viewers can RSVP for the event on the metaverse platform, where they can style their avatars with Van Heusen’s latest clothing collection, in virtual form yet mirroring real-life ensembles available in the brand catalog.

💭 How AI can make the metaverse a more interactive space

A recent report estimates that the global metaverse market will surpass $1.3 trillion by 2030. At the heart of this growth is artificial intelligence (AI), which will play a crucial role in making the metaverse a more interactive and immersive experience. AI will be used to create more lifelike and personalized avatars, and to help build more realistic environments.

Metaverse platforms can potentially reshape social lifestyles. The Sandbox users, for instance, will eventually be able to incorporate their own physical movements into their digital avatars, resulting in more personalized and realistic characteristics. The Sandbox would also partner with Kinetix, a tech startup specializing in AI, to bring “emotes” - animations that express emotion - to video games and virtual worlds.

We’re keeping our eyes peeled on how and when an even more immersive and interactive metaverse emerges, one that will change the way we live, work, and play.

💵 Li Shizhen and Mr. Dongbi IP receives $30M rights deal

The Li Shizhen and Mr. Dongbi IP, based on a hallmark of Chinese traditional culture, has recently caught the attention of famous investors in Singapore, leading to a $30M digital cultural copyright transaction, which will bring the IP into the metaverse through interactive applications such as premium content creation and resource integration.

The transaction will involve a wide range of activities, including the transfer of trademarks, character series creation, co-branded IP releases, graphic biographies, film script creation, trailer production, and the registration of works certificates for intellectual property protection. This comprehensive approach to the IP rights of Li Shizhen and Mr. Dongbi will ensure their successful integration into the metaverse field.

✅ Here’s everything we know about J Balvin’s futuristic VR concert coming soon

The upcoming virtual reality concert of Colombian artist J Balvin, hosted by Meta and iHeartRadio, is much awaited among his fans and is part of a new trend in live music performances. The virtual reality concert will be 45 minutes long and features high-tech visuals and backup dancers. It will be available to view on iHeart Radio's official Facebook and Instagram pages, Meta Quest TV, and Messenger's Watch Together.

Previous virtual reality concerts have been hosted by iHeartRadio, featuring artists such as John Legend, Carrie Underwood, and Kim Petras. It remains to be seen whether virtual reality concerts will have the staying power to become a staple in the music industry, and whether they can hurdle technical difficulties and growing pains associated with performances in the virtual space.

👀 Watch: Keke Palmer explores the metaverse with ‘Are We There Yet?’

On the heels of an amazing 2022, Keke Palmer embarks on a new endeavor: the metaverse. The Meta series Are We There Yet?, premiering last year, is back with three all-new episodes. Here Palmer takes road trips into the metaverse while chatting with creators, educators, and experts to find out where the metaverse stands now and what’s coming in the future. Just a few special guests to look forward to:

• NFL pro Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins, who shows how to train in the shoes of a pro athlete in VR games

• Immersive Media director Brenda Chen, who builds virtual concerts for musicians, and

• Camouflaj Ryan Payton, who created the Iron Man VR game and shares the future about speech-to-speech AI-driven real-time auto translations

😻 Cool Cats announces new NFT features and web3 experiences in bid to build a global entertainment brand

Cool Cats, a company leveraging its intellectual property to build a global entertainment brand, is introducing new features to reward holders and create a gamified storytelling project. The new features, "Cool Score" and "Journeys," aim to enhance the user experience and bring more excitement to the platform.

Additionally, Cool Cats is partnering with Ledger for Ledger Quest, an educational initiative launching this month, to educate and onboard more users to the web3 space. It is also releasing a new NFT called Explorers, also aimed at onboarding more users to web3. With these new offerings and initiatives, Cool Cats is making strides in building a global entertainment brand that appeals to both the crypto-savvy and the general public.

🎈 MetaRuffy builds Ruffy World

Meta Ruffy is a metaverse open world based on the latest technologies including web3, blockchain, VR, and AR. Its main focus is to dominate the entertainment sector in the metaverse by building the open world of RUFFY World.

The world showcases various areas including luxurious beach hotels with spa and yoga areas, a stadium for virtual concerts and performances, pubs and clubs for socializing, a game center, a dating island, and an NFT marketplace. The marketplace called RUFFY MALL offers a shopping experience with local shops selling various products, including NFT artworks, wearable NFTs, and services. Additionally, users can create their own shop and sell their own NFT designs.

❓ Can web3 be the driving force behind the next industrial revolution?

As the metaverse continues to gain traction, it's becoming increasingly clear that the industrial sector holds the most promise for value creation. Companies such as Boeing, Nokia, and General Electric are leveraging digital twins and other immersive technologies to monitor, manage, and shape performance of their manufacturing facilities.

A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object or system that uses real-world, real-time data from connected devices or sensors. This technology provides a way for companies to visualize, analyze, and optimize their operations, making it easier to identify and address inefficiencies and potential bottlenecks.

⭐ Sanlam hosts SA’s first fully immersive media briefing in the metaverse

A new survey conducted by financial services company Sanlam has revealed that South Africans are not making the right money moves at crucial life stages, resulting in gaps in their financial planning. The majority of respondents in every life stage said they would advise their younger self to “think of money as an asset to grow, not a luxury to spend.” Just 10.3% of 18 to 24-year-olds surveyed had a retirement product, while only 7.2% of the retired respondents said that they had felt well prepared to retire.

These findings were released at Sanlam's first fully immersive media briefing in the metaverse, which saw just under 500 people in attendance, represented as avatars who were able to explore Sanlam's new virtual meeting space. At the heart of Sanlam’s new financial education campaign launched, too, is Zesande, a digital avatar who lives her entire life in a day.

💸 Finance buzz

• Web3 media platform StoryCo announced the closing of a $6M seed round and the launch of its token-gated storytelling platform. (Source)

• MILC Metaverse is partnering with film and TV production SaaS platform Drylab Media Tech, which boasts a next-generation on-set production tools and distribution platform for filmmaking professionals. The integration of Drylab into the MILC Metaverse positions it within a new and innovative 3D immersive marketplace. (Source)

🗣️ Quote of the week

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All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse.

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