DSC Investment Sees Results from Subculture Investments in Playb and QWER

Domestic venture capital (VC) firm DSC Investment is drawing attention in the investment industry as the results of its early investments in subculture sectors-such as virtual idols and creator bands-are now becoming visible.

Playb

On the 29th, DSC Investment cited Vlast, the operator of the virtual idol Playb, and 3Y Corporation, the creator girl band QWER, as representative investment portfolios in the subculture sector.

Vlast underwent a review period of more than six months before Playb's debut, taking into account the risks associated with developing its own intellectual property (IP). Similarly, 3Y Corporation's investment was reviewed for eight months due to the uncertainty surrounding the commercial success of its artists, including QWER.

Currently, Playb has achieved first-week sales of 1 million copies for its mini-album this year and has accumulated 500 million views on YouTube. It also became the first virtual idol to enter the Billboard Global 200 chart. QWER sold 50,000 copies of its third mini-album within a day of release, and a world tour spanning 17 global cities is scheduled for the second half of this year.

Another portfolio company of DSC Investment, Metarocket, is rapidly establishing itself by dominating the metaverse-based content studio market, which is utilized for concerts by various virtual idols, including Playb, as well as real bands.

QWER

Shin Dongwon, Executive Director at DSC Investment, stated, "We decided to invest because we believed that when the content consumption patterns of global Millennials & Gen Z are combined with online communities and fandom, it can unleash new explosive potential. At the time of investment, there was a great deal of skepticism across the industry, but now Playb and QWER have moved beyond experimentation to become market-leading cases."

Executive Director Shin added, "Going forward, DSC will continue to identify potential in areas where other investors hesitate and will play a role in growing the market by combining capital and networks."