Metaverse studio Karta has successfully secured investment from industry pioneers across the music, gaming, sports, and finance sectors in a recent funding round. Led by music industry veteran Tony Barnes and former Head of Events at Fnatic, Erik Londré, Karta was established as a startup in 2021, with a focus on making the metaverse accessible and effective for musicians, brands, and sports rights-holders.
Over the past two years, Karta has delivered several successful projects on platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and Decentraland, working with notable brands such as Amazon Music and Unilever's Sunsilk. Most recently, the studio collaborated with K-pop megastar girl group TWICE, reaching over 100 million young people through its unique approach to creating virtual experiences. These accomplishments have earned Karta industry recognition, including multiple awards and a shortlisting in the Health & Wellness category at the Cannes Lion Awards for their work with Ronald McDonald House.
The newly secured investment provides Karta with a strong foundation to meet the growing demand for virtual worlds. Venture capital firm GameTech Ventures led the funding round, which also saw participation from music industry figures such as Amy Thomson, a trailblazing artist manager and former chief catalog officer for Hipgnosis. Thomson was attracted to Karta's ability to build experiences with a marketer's mindset and their vision of leveraging the metaverse as a powerful marketing tool for brands and artists.
Lachlan Gowrie-Smith, partner at GameTech Ventures, expressed excitement about joining Karta's journey, praising the team's ability to create exceptional brand experiences on leading gaming platforms. By fostering partnerships and emphasizing rich and engaging experiences for fan communities, Karta is at the forefront of deep consumer engagement in this emerging medium.
Karta's recent success includes the launch of TWICE Square, a fan experience developed in collaboration with Republic Records and JYP Management. This immersive space has become the number one music experience on Roblox and ranks as the third most popular branded experience overall on the platform in 2023.
The funding round attracted support from other notable investors in the gaming, sports, entertainment, and finance industries, including Toikido, a global entertainment company, Charlie Greenwood, CEO of Sports Loft, Robert Wigley, chairman of UK finance, Ste Thompson, founder and CEO of Powster, and the venture studio Big Ideas Group.
With this significant investment, Karta is poised to continue its innovative work in building immersive metaverse activations for renowned artists while further expanding its presence in the rapidly evolving realm of virtual experiences.