Web3 blockchain gaming platform Iskra makes seed investment in NFT co-purchase platform ‘Laboon’
Web3 blockchain gaming platform Iskra makes seed investment in NFT co-purchase platform ‘Laboon’
Web 3.0 blockchain game platform ISKRA (CEO Hongkyu Lee) announced today that it has made a seed investment in NFT (non-fungible token) collaborative purchasing platform Laboon, thereby strengthening its partnership.
ISKRA operates an all-in-one platform that facilitates the entire lifecycle of Web 3.0 games, from game launch to IGOs selling governance tokens, all based on blockchain. The company was founded last year by Lee Hong-kyu, former head of Unchain, who was responsible for blockchain products at Line. The initial team includes serial entrepreneurs such as Vice President Kim Hyun-soo, who has worked at Netmarble and Hangame, and COO Ryu In-sun, who has worked at Nexon, Disney, and Line. Ben Correico, a CBO who founded Level Up Games and steered its success in Brazil, Colombia, India, and the Philippines before selling it to Tencent, serves as Global Managing Director.
Iskra has been a hot topic in the startup world since its inception in April last year, when it received a seed investment worth about 52 billion won. In the initial round alone, major Korean game developers including Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary Crust, Netmarble, Line Studio, Neowiz, Joycity, ROK Capital, Hanang Ventures, Metabora, 111%, and Red Ice participated. Venture capital (VC) firms such as Kakao Ventures, Fast Ventures, and Kona Ventures also invested in the project, recognizing the expertise of CEO Lee Hong-gyu and key members in three areas: blockchain, games, and global business.
Building on this, Iskra has grown into a community-centered gaming platform with global reach. It has signed a series of agreements with YGG Philippines, the largest game community DAO in Southeast Asia, and Ancient 8 in Vietnam to provide its games and services to users in those countries. It has also swiftly made inroads into South America, a “blue ocean,” and welcomed Brazil’s №1 game publisher “Level up!”, a subsidiary of Tencent, as a partner to promote localization of game experiences and community support. Recently, the company also launched an IGO to sell governance tokens for games introduced by Iskra through its previously developed Launchpad.
Iskra’s seed investment in Laboon was motivated by the synergy between Iskra’s blockchain-based gaming community system and Laboon’s member-tier community of NFT whales. Iskra has been in discussions with Laboon to expand the partnership and develop a range of derivative services (NFT-fi) using NFTs. After discussions since March, the company decided to make an initial investment in Laboon to accelerate the creation of strategic synergies, noting that Laboon’s leadership has a strong track record in the Web 3.0 space, as well as a history of analyzing problems in the current NFT market, resolving them with innovative ideas, and successfully commercializing them.
Iskra plans to utilize the investment in its business strategy and long-term customer acquisition. In addition to HD Labs’ ‘Three Kingdoms Multiverse (3KM)’, which has already been launched, Iskra is looking forward to introducing a series of games such as ‘Clashmon’, ‘Norma in Metaland’, and ‘World of Win’, and expects to aid business plans such as derivatives and monetization using NFTs. In addition, the collaboration with Laboon not only secures the potential customer base for Pioneer NFTs, a core digital asset, but also enables community support of NFT whales consisting of Web3 heavy users for the launch of derivative services
“As there are various NFT assets available on the Iskra platform, including Pioneer NFTs, which are the core of Iskra’s premium membership, and non-fungible tokens of game companies, we have been thinking about how to maximize the effectiveness and benefits of the platform, game companies, and users,” said Hongkyu Lee, CEO of Iskra. “Through expanded cooperation, including seed investment in Laboon, we will create strategic synergies in this regard and further strengthen our position as a global web3 blockchain gaming platform.”
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