Blast, a virtual intellectual property (IP) startup, announced today that it has raised KRW 2 billion in pre-Series A funding.

The investment was led by DSC Investment and its subsidiary Schmidt. This brings Blast’s cumulative investment total to KRW 4.4 billion in just over a year since its founding as an independent company. With this investment, the company plans to accelerate the acquisition of core IP.

Blast is a virtual IP startup that was spun off from MBC in February last year. It was founded by Lee Sung-koo, who has worked as a computer graphics supervisor on dozens of broadcast programs, including MBC’s virtual reality (VR) documentary “I Met You. Blast produces a variety of digital content through its unique computer graphics know-how and its own virtual studio.

In particular, Blast recently introduced its own IP, PLAVE. PLAVE is a webtoon-style virtual boy group that made its official debut with the release of its first single album, “Asterum,” on the 12th. PLAVE has been receiving a lot of attention for their music video for the title track “I’ll Wait” and their appearance on MBC’s “Show! Music Center” with 2.14 million and 1.55 million YouTube views, respectively.

“Blast is expected to maintain its high technological competitiveness with a differentiated pipeline and the best virtual live solution in Korea,” said Judge Jang Wonjun Schmidt.

“With the recent debut of PLAVE, we were able to showcase Blast’s unique virtual technology and content creation capabilities,” said Lee Sung-koo, CEO of Blast. “With this investment, we will further advance our virtual technology and content planning capabilities to lead the market with new IPs that combine metaverse and K-POP.”