■ SoftBank Corp., NAVER, CJ ENM, SHINSEGAE and others to invest in global NFT business
■ Agreement aims to find synergy in NFT and Web3 ecosystem expansion and global contents distribution through IP contents business and marketing cooperation
SEONGNAM, South Korea – July 13, 2022 – LINE NEXT Inc., LINE’s venture dedicated to developing and expanding the global NFT ecosystem, announced today that it has signed a strategic investment agreement worth about US$10 million with 10 companies. SoftBank Corp., NAVER, NAVER WEBTOON, NAVER Z, LINE Games, CJ ENM, YG PLUS, SHINSEGAE, Hashed, and K Auction will cooperate in the launch of DOSI, LINE’s global NFT platform, along with providing business support and developing NFT projects based on their IP content.
Through this investment, LINE NEXT will strategically cooperate with contents, distribution, gaming, and entertainment companies that own and operate a wide range of IP, to lead the global NFT market. LINE NEXT aims to introduce the NFT platform to the public by introducing NFTs that are friendly to mainstream audiences. For the partnering companies, they are joining with LINE NEXT to enter into new markets by accelerating global contents distribution through NFT projects.
LINE NEXT will also develop exclusive NFT projects with NAVER’s NOW. and CJ ENM using their entertainment IP, such as DIA TV and Street Man Fighter, to diversify their content channels.
NFTs issued through these partnerships will be available to trade through each brand’s store on the DOSI market place, scheduled to launch later this year. Additionally, to make it easier for users to participate in the NFT market, LINE NEXT plans to link NAVER logins to DOSI Wallet and provide Naver Pay as one of the payment options for buying NFTs.
"The key to expanding the Web3 ecosystem is to making NFTs based on users’ needs and delivering actual value," said Youngsu Ko, CEO of LINE NEXT. “By publishing Asian contents to the global NFT market, the partnership will lead a new fandom culture and the mass adoption of NFTs."
■ About LINE NEXT Inc.
Based in United States, LINE NEXT Inc. is focused on growing the global NFT business. Through blockchain and NFT technology, LINE NEXT aims to provide new digital experiences and lead the way into the future.