SoftBank invests $ 150 million in fashion metarers

SoftBank investit près de 150 millions de dollars dans le métavers de Naver, baptisé Zepeto, selon les informations du Wall Street Journal. La plateforme sud-coréenne est surtout utilisée en Asie, par de jeunes filles. Son principe est notamment la vente d’articles de haute couture numériques, que les utilisateurs peuvent acheter pour en revêtir leurs avatars. Plusieurs grandes sociétés de luxe ont signé des accords pour intégrer ce monde numérique.

Zepeto, the fashion metarers

Naver is a South Korean company specializing in computer science, which notably has a search engine of the same name.Its Zepeto platform is accessible via an application available on most blinds.This is the most popular metarers in Asia, with around 2 million daily active users claimed.

The principle is simple: users scan a photo of them, in order to create a realistic avatar, and to walk in the virtual worlds offered by the platform, and discuss with other people.Several worlds, events and digital spaces can be traveled, such as haunted houses, or marriages in large gardens.

Other content is offered, and attract most users.Its attraction is based on virtual fashion.It is indeed possible to buy creator clothes there.Most are independent, but large haute couture houses have already signed partnerships to offer their collections, such as Gucci, Ralph Lauren, and Dior.Personalities are also present in this world, such as Selena Gomez, or K-Pop BTS and Blackpink groups.Stars, which can also sell exclusive products, and organize meetings with fans.It thus becomes possible for the latter to cross the avatars of their idols, and to virtually wear the same clothes.

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An effective economic model

The economy of the platform is certainly what had to attract SoftBank.It is based on sales of haute couture products, which generally cost only a few dollars.Currently, 1.5 billion fashion items have been sold on Zepeto.Some independent creators can even earn a living only thanks to the sales which are made there.The Wall Street Journal evokes the case of a 28 -year -old Korean who earns an average of $ 8,500 a month thanks to his sales.

Despite everything, Zepeto remains a small one among the big.As a comparison, Roblox, one of the best known and popular metates, claims 47 million active users per day in the third quarter of 2021.The South Korean platform is also little used in Europe, since most of its users come from South Korea, China and Indonesia, and some of the United States, Brazil, or Japan.Of the 2 million users, 70% would be women between 13 and 24 years old, according to Naver.This constitutes a small feature in the sector of digital universes, largely dominated by men.This figure also illustrates the power that metates have, to attract a diverse and varied audience, and create new markets.

"We are probably the largest virtual fashion market in the world," said Rudy Lee, Director of Strategy at Naver, with the Wall Street Journal."We believe that the metarers has the potential to be the next evolution of the Internet," said Greg Moon, director partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, reports the American media.

Softbank is embarking on the world racing at metarers

A multitude of companies have launched into the metarers lately, and invest billions of dollars.Meta took advantage of the Facebook Connect 2021 to present its vision and the projects involved in this area.Microsoft is not to be outdone, with the launch of Mesh, which aims to offer a virtual world intended for online collaboration.Roblox also invests a lot to develop his digital universes.However, these virtual worlds are only reserved for technological giants or video games.Many brands and organizations also invest the sector, such as Nikeland in Roblox, Niantic, which has raised $ 300 million to create a "real world", or even the city of Seoul.

To develop, Zepeto will probably have to diversify his metarers, by offering new content, like certain competitors.For this, it counts on developers, who have recently had new tools to create unpublished games and content.Metals are only in their early days, and will not be really developed before 5 to 10 years.Many things still have to be established, if only on the definition of what this term really means.

Softbank's investment promotes Zepeto to more than a billion dollars, while the platform was not launched until 2018 in 2018.This foray into the metarers represents the second in the space of a few weeks.The bank previously injected $ 93 million into The Sandbox, Hong Kong online game platform.Investments that can be surprised, while SoftBank recorded $ 3.5 billion in losses in the third quarter of 2021.