Pettaverse

About Pettaverse

Petaverse is a developer of a metaverse platform centered around interoperable digital pets. The company enables users to own virtual companions, starting with cats, that are designed to be persistent and accessible across various digital environments, including games, augmented reality, and other metaverse experiences. These digital pets possess unique physical traits and personalities embedded in their metadata, which functions like digital DNA, allowing them to learn and evolve based on user interactions.

There appear to be conflicting reports regarding the company's founding details. One set of sources indicates Petaverse was founded in London, United Kingdom, by Susan and Lee Cummings, veterans of the gaming industry with experience at Rockstar Games and 2K Games. The founding year is cited as 2013, 2016 or 2021 in different reports. Another set of sources states the company, operating as Petta Bus Co., Ltd., was founded in Seoul, South Korea, in 2022 and has a subsidiary named Applepie Studio. A Canadian company with a similar name and focus on a play-to-earn metaverse was reportedly founded in 2023.

The company's business model revolves around the creation and sale of these unique digital pets as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), allowing for true ownership. The pets are designed to be cross-chain, meaning they can exist on multiple blockchains, enhancing their interoperability. The core idea is to create a lasting bond between users and their digital pets, which, thanks to blockchain technology, can exist indefinitely. The business strategy includes offering an augmented reality mobile app for users to interact with their pets, as well as making their technology stack available to other developers to build new experiences for the Petaverse pets. The revenue model is based on the sale of virtual goods and direct-to-avatar (D2A) commerce, where digital items are sold for the user's pet avatar.

Funding information also varies across sources. One profile mentions a total funding of $12.4M over four rounds, with the latest being a Series A in March 2022. Another indicates a single Series A round of $7.3M on August 13, 2024, from investors including Kakao Investment and AFW Partners. Investors mentioned across various reports include Fabric Ventures, Animoca Brands, Fenbushi Capital, and Dapper Labs.