South Korean startup Mandnda, the company behind the game-based affiliate marketing platform Baaam!, announced on the 14th that it has secured seed funding from Korea Investment Accelerator. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

Baaam! is a marketing platform designed for influencers such as YouTubers to promote branded products through game-based campaigns. Fans can join these campaigns by interacting with the content, and winners receive the featured product. Even those who don’t win can receive product discounts based on their game scores. The platform encourages an interactive consumer experience, moving beyond simple purchasing.

Korea Investment Accelerator was drawn to the way Baaam! reimagines commerce. By combining gamified participation, fandom-driven incentives, and creator-focused distribution, the platform reflects broader trends emerging among global venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) and Y Combinator.

Lee Sung-moon, Team Lead at Korea Investment Accelerator, noted, “A16z emphasizes that the future of commerce revolves around content and community, where engagement is more important than traffic. We’ve also seen Y Combinator investing heavily in startups experimenting with fandom-based recommendation commerce and gamified consumer experiences.”

He added, “If Baaam!’s growth continues in line with these trends, we believe it could redefine how brands, consumers, and creators interact in the commerce space.”

Sanghyun Park, CEO of Mandnda, said, “We started with the realization that it’s difficult for influencers to sustain content creation through traditional ad revenue or view-based models alone. Our goal was to design a system where brands, influencers, and consumers can all win together.”

Most of the Baaam! team comes from the gaming industry, and they are leveraging their strong backgrounds in planning and marketing to craft immersive and engaging user experiences.