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Metaverse studio Karta secures new investors through an investment seed round led by GameTech Ventures with Amy Thomson, following successful campaigns with clients including Republic Records, JYP Management, Unilever, Amazon Music and Ronald McDonald House.
Following a successful funding round, Karta, a Metaverse studio focused on in-game experience marketing, has secured investment from industry pioneers across music, gaming, sports and finance.
Founded as a startup in 2021 by Tony Barnes, a music industry veteran, and Erik Londré, former Head of Events at Fnatic, Karta aims to make the metaverse accessible and practical for musicians, brands and sports rights owners. In two years, the studio has delivered several successful projects on Roblox, Fortnite and Decentraland for clients such as Amazon Music, Unilever’s Sunsilk and most recently K-pop girl group TWICE.
Collectively, these campaigns have reached over 100 million users through Karta’s approach to creating virtual experiences, earning the startup multiple industry awards and recently a shortlist in the Health & Wellness category at the Cannes Lions Awards for its work with Ronald McDonald House. The new investment represents a stepping stone for Karta, enabling it to meet the increasing demand for these virtual worlds.
The latest round of funding was led by venture capital firm GameTech Ventures and included music industry names including Amy Thomson, former Chief Catalog Officer of Hipgnosis. Thomson made the investment after recognizing Karta’s unique proposition to create experiences with a marketer’s mindset and its vision for brands and artists to leverage the metaverse as a powerful marketing tool.
“As we navigate the way people engage with music and everyday life now in the Metaverse, it was obvious to support a company that not only builds the best spaces I’ve seen there, but also plans innovations that do so.” I think it’s going to make it a place where we can work. “You can’t live without it,” Thomson said.
“By adopting a partnership mindset with a long-term perspective and a focus on rich experiences and fun for the fan communities, they are pioneering a new medium of deep consumer interaction,” added Lachlan Gowrie-Smith, Partner at GameTech Ventures. “With an experienced and talented team, we look forward to accompanying them on their journey with this investment.”
The launch of the hugely successful TWICE Square – a fan experience developed for K-pop megastars TWICE through a partnership with Republic Records and JYP Management has demonstrated Karta’s ability to deliver long-term music metaverse activations for big-name artists create. TWICE Square is currently the #1 music experience in Roblox and the 3rd most popular overall brand experience on the platform this year.
The latest round of funding was also supported by a number of other high-profile investors across gaming, sports, entertainment and finance, including global entertainment company Toikido, CEO of Sports Loft Charlie Greenwood, Chairman of UK Finance Robert Wigley, founder of Powster and CEO Ste Thompson and venture studio Big Ideas Group.
“We are incredibly grateful for the support and support we have received so far from some of the most respected figures in the industries we work with,” said Erik Londré, Karta CEO. “They know, as do we, that the Metaverse is the real business and delivers the real results that matter.” The investments raised will be critical to helping us serve the growing demand for Metaverse experiences by investing in our team, platform and regional expansions.”