TOKYO, Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ASTA Network, a
Japanese ACG Metaverse project, announced its new investment from
the legendary private equity firm KKR & Co. Inc. in the seed
round, along with some other traditional large institutional
investors including CBRE Group, Inc, Global Logistic Properties,
Great Wall Fund, etc. It is the first time KKR has touched a
Metaverse blockchain project since the establishment of its
US$16 billion fund in Asia last year.
As one of the "Four Big PE Giants in the World", KKR has an
impressive record. In the late 1980s, KKR succeeded in leveraging
31 billion US dollars in astronomical
funds and became the "Leveraged Buyout King" on Wall Street. In
recent years, it has successively invested in many frontier fields
and companies such as Haier, Douyin's parent company ByteDance,
etc., keeping up with market hotspots.
KKR's investment in ASTA has not only sent a strong
signal to the market but can also be seen as a barometer showing
that traditional institutional investors are entering the metaverse
field.
ASTA is an NFT blockchain "space station" built on the
trillion-dollar global ACG derivative market, including animations
figures, gashapon, blind box, comic art, etc. It creates a virtual
universe around the anime story engaging the next-level fan
experience on the blockchain technology. Through the latest
innovation on metaverse concept, NFT and sharding technology, ASTA
links physical animation products with digital assets and improves
exchangeability and liquidity in them, thereby realizing the
flexible ownership and activating the financial attributes of
virtual characters and assets. Determined to be the largest ACG NFT
platform, ASTA would serve as a bridge to the
2-dimension universe for artists and fans, allowing them to
collect, play, and trade all kinds of ACG derivatives with NFT
online.
ASTA is recognized by top-tier institutional investors because
the team has strong advantages in terms of securing and expanding
an exclusive pool of world-renowned animation IP, comic studio, and
master painters, and integrating most creative gaming and DeFi
models to socially interact with fans, collectors, artists, ACG
culture, story and characters in a fictional cyberspace which is
called "ASTA space station". The new concept is a diversified
platform that empowers anime characters and derivatives with new
stories and features and circulates the value of them.
ASTA has forged exclusive partnerships with well-known ACG IPs
including Naruto, Dragon Ball, Gundam, Saint Seiya, One Piece,
Demon Slayer Blade, and etc. With strong support from global
capitals and traditional ACG giants, ASTA would add value to all
kinds of 2-dimension artists by supporting them to build a content
ecosystem of their own culture.
Metaverse is the latest trend and concept valued by major
Internet companies like Facebook and Tencent, traditional gaming companies like
Minecraft, and even captured in movies like Free Guy recently. In
this emerging market, blockchain is the underlying protocol that
supports diverse forms of metaverse, and NFT is a unique form of
encrypted assets that can support the economic system in it
effectively.
KKR believes Metaverse is not only a future trend but also a new
way of thinking about the world. A representative from KKR said:
"We are looking for more interesting projects to invest. ASTA is a
fascinating project that combines the two frontier technologies and
we are definitely optimistic about its future potential."
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SOURCE Asta Network