Holosiv (CEO Byung-il Oh and Young-jin Joo), an AI-based augmented reality (AR) goods platform developer, announced on the 24th that it had attracted seed investment from Mashup Ventures.
Holosiv, in collaboration with Japan's largest distributor, Animate, developed "EffectMate," which combines physical goods with AR content. This AI-based product identification technology analyzes physical characteristics, blocks unofficial goods, and provides optimized AR content tailored to each product type, transforming existing goods into interactive experiences.
This investment was selected for the TIPS program, hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, upon the recommendation of Mashup Ventures, and includes securing up to 500 million won in research and development (R&D) funding. The initial production run of Effectmate's AR acrylic stand, which was announced in Japan last October, has sold out entirely.
Holosiv was co-founded by CEOs Oh Byung-il and Joo Young-jin, who possess expertise in vision AI and AR technologies and a deep understanding of the Japanese content market. Oh Byung-il is an AI expert who developed XR vision software at Samsung Electronics and published a paper as the first author in the internationally renowned journal Nature Communications. Joo Young-jin, a graduate of Kyoto University of the Arts, served as director of a manga platform in Japan for over a decade.
Holosiv plans to launch "HoloParts," a platform that allows both individual creators and general users to create AR goods, in March. This expansion marks the company's strategy to expand its business beyond its existing B2B-focused structure to encompass the B2C market.
CEOs Oh Byeong-il and Joo Young-jin said, “With this investment, we will further develop our vision AI technology to enhance product recognition accuracy and content quality, and fully target the Japanese market.” They added, “We plan to expand our business into the B2C platform and the global subculture market.”
Mashup Ventures partner Seung-guk Lee said, “Holosive has solved the problem of goods duplication and counterfeiting, created high added value with premium content, and proven its technological prowess and marketability in the Japanese market. We expect it to grow into a representative platform for the global AR goods market in the future.”
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