Modhaus, a Web3 startup focused on K-pop, closes $8 million Series A

South Korean Web3 startup Modhaus, which promotes artists in the K-pop genre, closed an $8 million Series A funding round.

[?] 팬 참여형 K-pop 스타트업 ‘모드하우스’, 100억 원 규모 시리즈 A 투자 유치https://t.co/NAnU5LbDTC#MODHAUS #모드하우스

— Official_MODHAUS (@officialmodhaus) November 14, 2023

The lead investor was the American venture capital firm Sfermion with participation from SM Culture Partners, Laguna Investment, KDDI Open Innovation Fund III and Foresight Ventures.

Modhaus positions itself as an ‘entertainment Web3 agency’. The main platform — Cosmo — uses blockchain technology and allows users to purchase digital images of groups or individual artists.

«By collecting photos of their favorite idols in the NFT format, fans obtain utility-tokens, which allow them to participate in decisions related to the group’s activities», — press release says.

The platform was founded in December 2021 and is operated by Hashed. Since launch, about 130,000 users have bought 1.2 million cards.

Co-founder Jaden Jung noted that K-pop fans possess keen insight that helps track major trends.

«Just as media and streaming changed the music industry, Web3 is expected to change the game», — said Hashed CEO Simon Kim.

In November 2022 Modhaus and metaverse The Sandbox joined to create a K-pop hub for fan interaction within the digital world. The lead participant in the initiative was the girl group tripleS, consisting of 24 members.

As part of the partnership, the Korean startup released several related non-fungible tokens, including avatars and various digital collectibles for The Sandbox.

Earlier in July, Snoop Dogg and a16z supported the music Web3 company Sound in a $20 million round. The project aims to create a new business model for musicians, distinct from traditional streaming services, that turns songs into NFTs.