Japanese ACG Metaverse Project Asta Network raised from KKR, who once Led the Investment in"Fortress Night" Epic Games

TOKYO, Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ASTA Network, a Japanese ACG Metaverse project, announced its new investment from the legendary private equity firm KKR & Co. Inc. in the seed round, along with some other traditional large institutional investors including CBRE Group, Inc, Global Logistic Properties, Great Wall Fund, etc. It is the first time KKR has touched a Metaverse blockchain project since the establishment of its US$16 billion fund in Asia last year.

As one of the "Four Big PE Giants in the World", KKR has an impressive record. In the late 1980s, KKR succeeded in leveraging 31 billion US dollars in astronomical funds and became the "Leveraged Buyout King" on Wall Street. In recent years, it has successively invested in many frontier fields and companies such as Haier, Douyin's parent company ByteDance, etc., keeping up with market hotspots.

KKR's investment in ASTA has not only sent a strong signal to the market but can also be seen as a barometer showing that traditional institutional investors are entering the metaverse field.

ASTA is an NFT blockchain "space station" built on the trillion-dollar global ACG derivative market, including animations figures, gashapon, blind box, comic art, etc. It creates a virtual universe around the anime story engaging the next-level fan experience on the blockchain technology. Through the latest innovation on metaverse concept, NFT and sharding technology, ASTA links physical animation products with digital assets and improves exchangeability and liquidity in them, thereby realizing the flexible ownership and activating the financial attributes of virtual characters and assets. Determined to be the largest ACG NFT platform, ASTA would serve as a bridge to the 2-dimension universe for artists and fans, allowing them to collect, play, and trade all kinds of ACG derivatives with NFT online.

ASTA is recognized by top-tier institutional investors because the team has strong advantages in terms of securing and expanding an exclusive pool of world-renowned animation IP, comic studio, and master painters, and integrating most creative gaming and DeFi models to socially interact with fans, collectors, artists, ACG culture, story and characters in a fictional cyberspace which is called "ASTA space station". The new concept is a diversified platform that empowers anime characters and derivatives with new stories and features and circulates the value of them.

ASTA has forged exclusive partnerships with well-known ACG IPs including Naruto, Dragon Ball, Gundam, Saint Seiya, One Piece, Demon Slayer Blade, and etc. With strong support from global capitals and traditional ACG giants, ASTA would add value to all kinds of 2-dimension artists by supporting them to build a content ecosystem of their own culture.

Metaverse is the latest trend and concept valued by major Internet companies like Facebook and Tencent, traditional gaming companies like Minecraft, and even captured in movies like Free Guy recently. In this emerging market, blockchain is the underlying protocol that supports diverse forms of metaverse, and NFT is a unique form of encrypted assets that can support the economic system in it effectively.

KKR believes Metaverse is not only a future trend but also a new way of thinking about the world. A representative from KKR said: "We are looking for more interesting projects to invest. ASTA is a fascinating project that combines the two frontier technologies and we are definitely optimistic about its future potential."

SOURCE Asta Network