Metaverse
The Sandbox announces $50M fund for its startup accelerator program
Virtual world project The Sandbox announced its metaverse accelerator program that will push the development of the open metaverse by investing $50 million in startups. The Animoca Brands subsidiary is partnering with the venture accelerator firm Brinc to target 30 to 40 blockchain startups a year for the program. The Sandbox Metaverse Accelerator Program will allocate up to $250,000 in investment to each potential project and will give additional incentives to top-performing projects. The bonuses include The Sandbox (SAND) digital asset and LAND, digital real estate within The Sandbox’s metaverse. Apart from this, the best-performing startups will also have access to additional investment grants and high-profile mentors. According to The Sandbox Co-Founder Sebastien Borget, the program is...
Turkish president orders ruling party to organize metaverse forum
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and ruling Ak Party officials met earlier this week to discuss the metaverse, with the president calling for comprehensive research on the subject. Erdoğan has reportedly urged the Ak Party to study the metaverse, cryptocurrencies and how transactions are made using them, according to a Daily Sabah report. At a meeting on Tuesday, party leaders were instructed to research the phenomenon with significant ramifications for the future. The economic aspects of the metaverse, cryptocurrencies and social media are likely to be addressed at a forum that will be organized by the ruling party. In Turkey, the metaverse is gaining interest. According to some reports, thousands of virtual territories in Turkey, most of which are located in the historic form...
Meta unveils Metaverse AI supercomputer, claims it will be world’s fastest
Facebook’s parent company Meta says that its newly-created artificial intelligence (AI) “Research SuperCluster” (RSC) will “pave the way” towards building the Metaverse. The social media giant said that it believes RSC is already one of the fastest supercomputers in the world and will snag the top spot when it’s fully operational in mid-2022, according to a Jan, 24 blog post unveiling the hardware. “Developing the next generation of advanced AI will require powerful new computers capable of quintillions of operations per second,” wrote the company. “Ultimately, the work done with RSC will pave the way toward building technologies for the next major computing platform — the metaverse, where AI-driven applications and products will play an important role.” CEO Mark Zuckerberg added in a Jan....
$75M Blockchain Founders Fund II backs portfolio of P2E and Web3 projects
Singapore-based Blockchain Founders Fund has launched a new venture capital fund to support emerging projects in the cryptocurrency, metaverse and Web3 sectors, offering further evidence that investors are still keen to back major growth trends in the digital asset market. Blockchain Founders Fund II, also known as BFF II, has raised $75 million from various investors across the blockchain and crypto industry, including NEO Global Capital, Appworks, Baksh Capital, Octava and The Sandbox chief operating officer Sebastien Borget. BFF II has already deployed capital across 11 projects, including a layer-two derivatives exchange, several play-to-earn games and a DeFi protocol. BFF II is focused primarily on crypto, blockchain, Web3 and metaverse projects. The fund is also prepared to off...
Blockchain metaverse ecosystems gain traction as brands create digital experiences
Billion-dollar companies are taking the Metaverse by storm as consumers have shown heightened interest in virtual, interactive, three-dimensional experiences that take place online. While the “Metaverse” is still a new concept, research firm Strategy Analytics found that the global Metaverse market is forecasted to hit nearly $42 billion by 2026. This very well may be the case, as a handful of businesses including Nike and Walmart have begun exploring consumer experiences in metaverse environments. NFT utility for brands launching in the Metaverse To understand how and why brands are leveraging the Metaverse, it’s key to point out the role that NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, play within these ecosystems. While the year 2021 saw an influx of NFTs, the rise of the Metaverse is predicted ...
Crypto Biz: Microsoft enters the metaverse, Jan. 14–20
This week’s Crypto Biz explores Microsoft’s Activision purchase, the new partnership between Coinbase and Mastercard and the latest funding news from the world of crypto. For a comprehensive breakdown of business developments over the last week, register for the full newsletter below. Microsoft enters the Metaverse with Activision purchase It’s no secret that Microsoft has been eyeing its entry into the Metaverse ever since Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to Meta. The company found its perfect entry this week by acquiring gaming giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Satya Nadella, who has served as Microsoft’s CEO since 2014, described video games as playing a “key role in the development of metaverse platforms.” Activision is behind some of the world’s most iconic gaming franch...
The Australian Open swings into the Metaverse on Decentraland
Tennis Australia has partnered with Decentraland to host the Australian Open (AO), which will be the first official tennis grand slam in the Metaverse. A virtual recreation of key areas in Melbourne Park, including the Rod Laver Arena and Grand Slam Park, will be open for the duration of the Australian Open tournament, which will run for a fortnight beginning on Jan. 17. The event will include exclusive content for virtual visitors, including behind-the-scenes footage from over 300 cameras around Melbourne Park, including the exclusive player arrivals area and the practice village. As well as broadcasting live footage and AO radio, it will also feature archival footage from tennis matches dating back to the 70s and virtual meet-ups with tennis players including Mark Philippoussis, with oth...
Going meta: Disney, Second Life and K-pop
Following the announcement that Facebook’s parent company would be rebranding in a shift towards the Metaverse, many projects have started similar initiatives entering the virtual space, from buying property to testing the limits of what this universe has to offer. Visit Disneyland… in the Metaverse? The entertainment company behind some of the most popular theme parks in the world recently had a patent approved for a “virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue.” Though the Los Angeles Times reported that Disney had “no current plans” to use the simulator in the near future, the application does suggest Disneyland and Disney World guests may eventually see Metaverse attractions at one or more of the parks in the United States, Hong Kong, China, France and Japan. Disney World in Or...
Meta poaches staff from Microsoft and Apple for Metaverse plans
Employees from Microsoft and Apple are jumping ship to join Meta Platforms as the company sets its sights on creating the Metaverse. According to former employees of Microsoft quoted by the Wall Street Journal, around 100 people have ditched the tech giant’s augmented reality team over the past year to join Meta Platforms. They claim that Meta has been particularly focused on snapping up people who have worked on Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headsets. According to the WSJ, Linkedin profiles show that more than 70 people who were part of Microsoft’s HoloLens team have left the project over the past year, with more than 40 of them taking on new positions at Meta. Microsoft’s first mover advantage in the AR space makes its employees valuable assets to Meta. Microsoft announced ...
eToro rolls out smart portfolios for new metaverse investors
Brokerage firm eToro introduced MetaverseLife, a new smart portfolio covering stocks and crypto-assets from within the growing metaverse industry, on Tuesday. The company stated that its goal is to offer a diverse range of investments made for long-term exposure. Currently included in the portfolio are Meta Platforms, the new parent company behind Facebook, Roblox and other blockchain-based metaverse developments like Decentraland, The Sandbox and Enjin. There are also a few companies listed in this portfolio that aren’t exclusively blockchain-based but have still contributed to metaverse adoption and development. These include tech firms like Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia. Dani Brinker, head of investment portfolios at eToro, stated “when evaluating the investment opportunity of emer...
Disney patents technology for a theme park Metaverse
Disney has been approved for a patent that would create personalized interactive attractions for theme park visitors. The technology would facilitate headset-free augmented reality (AR) attractions at Disney theme parks. The tech would work by tracking visitors using their mobile phones, and generating and projecting personalized 3D effects onto nearby physical spaces, walls, and objects in the park. The entertainment giant was approved for a “virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue,” patent on Dec. 28, 2021. It was originally filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office in July 2020. The “Metaverse” has largely been imagined as existing on the internet, accessed using virtual reality (VR) or AR headsets. However, the technology proposed by Disney would bring the Metaverse ...
Samsung launches metaverse store in Decentraland
Samsung is the latest megacorporation to announce a metaventure project, choosing Decentraland for its metaverse project. On Thursday, the consumer electronics giant announced the opening of a virtual replica of its iconic New York physical store in order to enhance customer interaction at a time when COVID-19 is keeping people away from physical shops. The Samsung metaverse store is a replica of a real-world shop situated at 837 Washington Street in New York City’s Meatpacking District in Manhattan. The Samsung 837X shop will now be accessible in the metaverse for a limited time. The company claims that it is one of the largest brand land takeovers in Decentraland, a blockchain-powered metaverse. Customers must first enter Decentraland via a web browser to access the store. Aft...
