HIKKY

About HIKKY

HIKKY Co., Ltd. is a Japanese firm established on May 1, 2018, that has positioned itself at the forefront of the metaverse and virtual reality (VR) event sector. The company was founded by CEO Yasushi Funakoshi, who, after a career at a major telecommunications company, ventured into the creative field, establishing several businesses in content production and advertising before founding HIKKY to specialize in the metaverse. His journey reflects a long-standing ambition to create new economic streams for creators, a principle that underpins HIKKY's operations.

The company's core business revolves around the planning and operation of large-scale VR events, metaverse entry consulting, and the development of its proprietary metaverse engine, Vket Cloud. HIKKY generates revenue by providing these services and by facilitating B2C and C2C commerce within its virtual environments. Its clientele includes a wide range of corporate sponsors and individual creators who exhibit and sell goods, both digital and physical, during the events.

HIKKY's flagship product is Virtual Market, also known as Vket, one of the world's largest recurring VR conventions. These events, hosted on platforms like VRChat and accessible via the web, attract over a million visitors globally and have earned multiple Guinness World Records for the most booths at a virtual reality market event. Vket provides an immersive platform for users to socialize, explore detailed virtual worlds, and engage in commerce, purchasing everything from 3D avatars to real-world apparel. A key differentiator is the Vket Cloud engine, which allows users to access these metaverse experiences through a simple web link without needing a dedicated application, supporting multiplayer interaction with voice and text chat.

The company's growth has been significantly bolstered by substantial financial backing, securing a total of ¥7 billion (approximately $61 million) in its Series A funding round by early 2022. This funding, with notable investment from NTT DOCOMO, is aimed at expanding HIKKY's services domestically and internationally and strengthening its organizational foundation.