South Korean startup Holoceive, developer of an AI-powered augmented reality (AR) goods platform, has secured seed investment from Mashup Ventures.

The company developed EffectMate in partnership with Animate, Japan’s largest anime merchandise retailer, combining physical goods with AR content. At the core of the product is a proprietary AI vision technology that analyzes the physical characteristics of official merchandise to block counterfeit goods and protect intellectual property. The system also delivers AR content optimized for each type of goods, transforming conventional static merchandise into interactive experiences.

Backed by Mashup Ventures, Holoceive was selected for the government-backed TIPS program administered by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, securing up to approximately USD 346,000 (KRW 500 million) in R&D funding. Following the Japan launch of EffectMate in October last year, the initial production run of AR acrylic standees sold out entirely.

Holoceive was co-founded by Byungil Oh and Youngjin Joo, both bringing deep expertise in vision AI, AR technology, and the Japanese content market. Oh previously led XR vision software development at Samsung Electronics and has published research as a first author in Nature Communications. Joo, a graduate of Kyoto University of the Arts’ character design program, spent over a decade directing major manga platforms in Japan and oversees the company’s global business operations.

Holoceive plans to launch HoloParts in March — a platform that enables anyone to create AR-enabled goods. Designed to extend beyond the existing B2B model, HoloParts will allow individual creators and general users to easily produce and distribute merchandise linked to AR content.

“Following this investment, we plan to advance our vision AI technology to improve goods recognition accuracy and content quality as we accelerate into the Japanese market,” said co-CEOs Byungil Oh and Youngjin Joo. “Beyond expanding our B2C platform, we aim to grow into the global subculture market.”

Seungkuk Lee, partner at Mashup Ventures, said the firm was impressed by Holoceive’s ability to solve the long-standing problem of merchandise counterfeiting while creating premium, high-value content. “We were particularly struck by the fact that within just one year of founding, the team had validated both its technology and product-market fit in Japan,” he said, adding that Holoceive has the potential to become the defining platform in the global AR goods market.