Communication software company LINE’s subsidiary “LINE NEXT,” which focuses on developing blockchain and NFT, announced on Wednesday (13th) that it has completed a $140 million financing as part of its “Web3 ecosystem popularization” plan. The company will use these funds to expand its global business and develop new services.
DOSI is expected to be officially launched in the first quarter of 2024 and is planning to introduce various new services to further accelerate the popularization of Web3.
This round of financing was led by private equity firm Crescendo Equity Partners, supported by renowned entrepreneur Peter Thiel. LINE claimed in a statement released today that this investment is “the largest round of financing in the Asian blockchain Web3 industry this year.”
With the new funds, LINE plans to officially launch its global NFT platform DOSI in January 2024, providing a digital marketplace for trading various digital products. The company stated that it plans to introduce various new services to further accelerate the popularization of Web3.
LINE NEXT also plans to launch new solutions to help various services and brands directly grant ownership of existing digital products and enable these products to be traded.
Kevin Lee, managing partner of Crescendo, stated in a release that the new services planned by LINE NEXT include a social app that allows users to communicate through AI-generated characters, as well as a Web3 game combining its well-known original sticker characters “BROWN & FRIENDS.” Youngsu Ko, CEO of LINE NEXT, stated that the team plans to “further popularize Web3 and develop a new service ecosystem that enables users to realize the value of their digital assets.”
LINE NEXT plans to build these services on the public blockchain Finschia, with LINE NEXT and Crescendo participating as governance members of the Finschia Foundation to contribute to the expansion of its ecosystem.
Finschia is the third-generation mainnet developed by LINE, formerly known as LINE Blockchain, with $FNSA as the basic token of Finschia (originally LN, renamed in May this year).
LINE has been actively entering the Web3 field. The social media giant established LINE NEXT in December 2021 and launched a beta version of its NFT platform DOSI in September last year.