The metaverse has been the hot topic this year, with increasing conversations and questions surrounding NFT marketplaces, Web3 adoption, and the rise of a new era of digital. Many projects have worked to build metaverse games and experiences, but the turning point was when celebrities started exploring these trends, releasing their own exclusive digital assets, and sharing plans for virtual worlds as new ways of reaching out to their fan bases.

In a sea of new metaverse plays, Gemie emerges as the only platform centered on celebrating Asia-focused entertainment. By partnering with celebrities and entertainment players, Gemie will create a virtual galaxy of custom, celebrity-designed planets. With the unique proposition of virtual planets serving as an interaction ground between fans and their beloved stars and IPs, Gemie is the first platform in Asia that elevates the regional creative scene to the stellar level. Backed by the cutting-edge technology of Web3, Gemie breaks down the barriers of traditional industry, thus creating opportunities for participation in the global talent community. This way, there are no longer limitations for whether fans are based in Asia, Europe, America, or elsewhere in the world – right now, lack of imagination becomes the only limit. 

In an interview with John, the co-founder of Gemie, I asked how the proposition of his company will help celebrities and fans make a strong union backed by a powerful metaverse proposition.

How does Gemie position itself on the market? What problem does it aim to solve?
Gemie is an Asia-focused entertainment metaverse. We see endless possibilities for technology to improve existing pain points in the entertainment industry and we want to provide the tools and resources to onboard top entertainment players into the metaverse. Right now, we see obstacles like physical limitations, lack of creative ownership for artists, and lack of connectivity for fans as key problems we’re aiming to solve with Gemie. We believe there’s lots of amazing talent in the region and we want to be the platform that lifts and celebrates these entertainers, bringing them closer to their fans.

Who are the key partners of your project, as of now?
We recently announced the closing of our latest $3.8 million fundraising round led by Shima Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto, and Kenetic. Other investors who also participated in the round include Newman Capital, Soul Capital, NGC Ventures, Sparks Digital Capital, ICO Pantera, SL2, Oddiyana Ventures, Beyond NEXT, QUDAX LLC, and AVStar Capital. 

We’re very lucky to be able to work closely with our investors every step along the way, leveraging their expertise and networks to ensure we deliver the best product for our community. Our incubator, Newman Labs, has also been an incredible help to us throughout this process as they have quite a lot of experience in the crypto and web3 space.

Why has Asia been chosen as your target geography? How is it distinct from the Western entertainment scene?
We chose Asia as our target geography because we feel like there are many opportunities for innovation in this space and no one in the East is really addressing these issues at scale. My background is in entertainment, having worked more than 10 years in the industry and my partner, Sunny, has deep experience in media and gaming, previously founding an award-winning gaming company. We feel that we both truly understand the intricacies and dynamics of the markets in the region and want to shine a spotlight on the incredible talent we have here while providing consumers with an incredible fan experience, bringing them closer to their favorite celebrities than ever.

While we’ve seen western celebrities like Justin Bieber and Paris Hilton embrace the metaverse and NFTs, we have yet to see top names in Asia rush forward to participate beyond announcing vague partnerships for future collaborations. Entertainment is a huge part of our daily lives in Asia and is deeply rooted in our past, present, and future in the sense that it captures our history and where we’ve been, our values and the current zeitgeist, and allows our artists to look forward and set trends. The pace here is different. The culture, the vibe, the humor - all of it has a certain element that makes our art unique and worth celebrating. Gemie is here to take it to the next level.


Please, tell me a bit more about NFT functionality on Gemie. How is it distinct from other platforms in the space?
We believe that the first wave of pfp NFT popularity is built upon identity, status, and tying yourself to a specific community but lacks greater utility beyond that. For us, Gemie NFTs represent authenticated digital ownership, fan support, and can come with additional benefits to add value for users after first purchase both online and offline.

To do this, our team is working with celebrities to customize unique collectibles that fans can use and wear in our metaverse. Each NFT will also come with virtual and real-world perks for collectors including, but not limited to the following:

• Events (ex. Access to live concerts, movie premieres, after parties, meet-ups)
• Perks (ex. Exclusive waitlist, discounts, priority in ticket sales)
• Real-world items (ex. Purchase of NFT comes with physical movie or music video props and other memorabilia)
• DAO (eg. Participation in the decision-making process regarding collaborations)

Could you tell me a bit more about your metaverse project? What are its main features?
Gemie will work closely with different celebrities and artists to create their own customized planets and NFTs with unique benefits. Fans can purchase these NFTs to use or wear in the Gemie metaverse as well as provide additional online and offline benefits to holders as mentioned in the previous question.

We envision filling the Gemie galaxy with different planets that users can teleport between to capture the diversity of talent in this region - representation is key. We believe that Asians do not have one homogenous identity and culture, and we are excited to spotlight top talent and equip them with the tools to flex their creativity in the metaverse.

Aside from our high-utility NFTs, Gemie will have key venues for artists to hold live concerts, premieres, and VIP parties - the possibilities are only limited by their imagination. Participation in the Gemie DAO will give dedicated users access to key decision-making processes of their favorite idols, such as determining upcoming events or collaborations. These are some of the initial features, but we have much more in the works and can’t wait to share what we’ve been building.

In your perspective, what is the entertainment industry’s next turn? How does Gemie move in that direction?
Real-world events provide an incredible experience for those who are able to attend, but this is not always accessible. Covid-19 presented the world with a global opportunity to accelerate digital adoption due to the physical challenges of not being able to gather and travel. As a result, we’re seeing a rising interest in online innovations like the metaverse which eliminate these connection barriers.

The entertainment industry was one of the sectors that took a significantly hard hit in the pandemic years given that it typically requires people to attend the same physical venue. What the industry is now recognizing is that you don’t need to be in the same space to create an authentic and meaningful interaction. We’ve seen platforms and celebrities leading this charge in the West, already cementing their virtual presences however things seem to be lagging behind in the East with no prominent figures really standing out. As a platform, we hope to provide the Asian entertainment industry with the best tools and resources to join this conversation. There is a lot of talent here and we want to be the home for celebrating it.

From the top-performing celebrities in Asia, which prominent names could potentially be interested in Gemie?
Gemie has reached partnerships with some of the major players in the Asian entertainment. These partnerships allow our team to bring on top-tier K-pop stars, blockbuster movies, KOLs, and other IPs to the Gemie metaverse. For them, Gemie will be a one-stop platform to build, expand, and grow their presence in the metaverse and their connections with fans. We’re close to announcing our first partnership and can’t wait to reveal who we’re working with! I can’t share more on this now, but follow us on social for the latest Gemie updates.

Which new possibilities does Gemie open for the industry fanbase?
Gemie offers an exciting opportunity for existing players like celebrities, franchises, and movie production houses to accelerate their digital adoption which will help them increase their global fan bases. From a fan’s perspective, they can look forward to unexpected collaborations, immersive online experiences, and online and offline benefits of using the platform and holding Gemie NFTs. Fans will be able to more directly support their favorite entertainers while receiving unprecedented access. The metaverse also makes it possible to design environments and experiences that are unimaginable in the real world due to different physical and safety limits. 

How can creators promote merchandising through Gemie?
In the traditional world, fans are used to collecting CDs, posters, signed shirts, and so on to show their support. They also buy these items to capture a part of the artist’s creativity and expression, while at the same time use the item to connect with a greater community of fans.

With Gemie NFTs, we hope to reimagine the value of merchandising. Not only can you support your favorite artists at the time of purchase, but artists can continually earn profits from secondary sales with the implementation of smart contracts. Additionally, all NFTs will provide their collectors with multi-utility. Gemie collectibles can function as wearables and in-game items with the added perk of possessing online and offline benefits, ranging from merch discounts to entrance into exclusive concerts and meet-ups. Specific NFT benefits will be decided by our celebrity partners, but we love that there are so many ways to bring added value to our community with these collectibles.

What is your future roadmap?
Right now the team is working on private demo rooms of all the key Gemie venues, like user rooms and concert halls, to be shared with our investors and partners for feedback before opening to the public. At the same time, we’re meeting with different stars and entertainment players in Asia while prepping for the announcement of our first celebrity partner. Once all the elements are ready, we will release the Gemie Alpha on desktop first, with the goal of releasing a mobile app next year. There is a lot of exciting stuff in the pipeline and we can’t wait to reveal more when the time comes!