SCON, a South Korean virtual entertainment startup specializing in building and managing virtual IPs, has closed a $5.13M (7.5B KRW) Series A round. The financing was led by content-focused investors including Hyundai Technology Investment, CJ Investment, Laguna Investment, and Crit Ventures.

With this round, SCON’s total funding now stands at $7.52M (11B KRW). The company plans to deepen collaboration with its existing strategic backers — including Naver D2SF and SM Culture & Contents — as well as partners across entertainment, platforms, media, and gaming.

Founded in 2018, SCON operates a proprietary virtual content production platform built around 3D motion capture and live streaming technology. Its business model reimagines the traditional entertainment and MCN structure, treating virtual IPs as both artists and brands. Creators participate directly in character development and content production, while SCON handles integrated IP management — generating revenue across live donations, merchandise, advertising, and secondary content.

Rather than centering its strategy on a handful of blockbuster IPs, SCON has designed its model to support a broad roster of distinctive characters, each cultivating its own dedicated fanbase. The company supports virtual IP growth end-to-end: producing high-quality original characters, providing motion capture and other virtual production tools, and offering content planning and production expertise.

SCON has debuted more virtual characters than any other company in South Korea, with a lineup of around 40 virtual character IPs including VTuber group Meechu. Its virtual IP segment posted revenue growth of approximately 4x year-over-year in 2024, and the company has continued that momentum into 2025 by expanding into secondary content such as games and AI chatbots.

With the new capital, SCON plans to scale the reach of its virtual IPs by diversifying content formats. Alongside continued live and video content production, the company is pursuing secondary IP expansions into games, web novels, webtoons, AI chatbots, and trading card games (TCG), while also targeting international markets including Japan, China, and Taiwan.

“The greatest appeal of virtual content is that anyone — regardless of gender, age, or background — can become a creator who tells their own story,” said Gisu Gi, CEO of SCON. “With this investment, we’re committed to giving diverse creators who have been overlooked by traditional industries a new stage of their own, powered by virtual technology.”