Telefonica, one of Spain’s largest telecommunications companies, has decided to invest in Gamium to strengthen its promotion of the Metaverse. The company will apply undisclosed funds to this Metaverse initiative through its innovation-based incubator arm, Wayra. The company will also work with Meta to build the Metaverse Innovation Hub for startups.
Telefonica to invest in Spain’s Metaverse Gamium
The Metaverse initiative has become a popular investment for companies and VCs during this market downturn. Telefónica, one of Spain’s largest telecommunications companies, has announced that it is stepping up its investment in the Metaverse by supporting Gamium, a Spanish virtual world initiative. The Barcelona-based company is being touted as the first decentralized metaverse, having raised €1 million in the sale of land on the platform in just 10 days.
The investment, for which no figures have been disclosed, will be made through Wayra, Telefónica’s open innovation platform, which incubates technology-related projects. According to local press reports, the Gamium metaverse will be available in a 3D VR-based channel, as well as an app that will allow users to create their own businesses and events within the metaverse and build an online economy on the platform.
Commenting on this investment, Marta Antúnez, head of Wayra Barcelona, said.
We are excited to invest in Gamium, a very talented team in the crypto and blockchain world. Committed to innovation and with the ambition to build the foundation for a new, more decentralized Internet that empowers creators.
Metaverse Push
Telefónica is one of the most active companies regarding its interest in the Metaverse and related technologies. Telefónica CEO José María Álvarez Parete has been clear about the importance of the Metaverse to the company and its future; in an interview published in May, he said,:
We are living in the greatest era of change in human history, in the greatest accumulation of technology that no other generation has ever had. The metaverse will cause even more profound changes than the Internet.
Telefónica’s attention to the Metaverse has also prompted other actions. In addition to the announced investment, Telefónica partnered with social media company Meta in the creation of the Metaverse Innovation Hub. The hub will allow Spanish and local Metaverse-based startups to have a 5G communications lab to test the efficiency of their platforms using today’s communications networks.
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