by 0xe793376ad5357ccce8cd0f8c8be012464648f8f3 (Atoza)
Should the following Tier 4: up to $60,000 USD, 6 months vesting (1 month cliff) grant in the Content Creator category be approved?
Abstract
The metaverse holds massive potential to bridge people from all over the world. AsiaVerse is building a platform to showcase and celebrate cultures and businesses from all over Asia in Decentraland.
AsiaVerse is well-connected to many web3 and NFT ecosystems in Asia, with these relationships building for more than a year. This is a huge value-add to the Decentraland ecosystem, affirmed by the metaverse track record that we have accomplished so far.
Through a focus on film and education, AsiaVerse will onboard film studios and universities into Decentraland from various parts of Asia, eventually leading up to pan-Asia film and education festivals that will serve to onboard many people in Asia into Decentraland.
Grant size
60,000 USD
Beneficiary address
0x2aF63A7210438dB1F21b459038181fB78e56c647
Email address
Description
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According to a report from law firm Gowling WLG, 83% from China are interested in participating in the metaverse, twice that of the UK (37%).
(https://workplaceinsight.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IG00135\_Gowling_Metaverse_ESG_Report_FINAL7333166-compressed.pdf) -
South Korea is also leading the way, as the government has started to plan for a metaverse future through its multi-billion dollar budget.
(South Korea's 'Gen MZ' leads rush into the 'metaverse' - The Japan Times) -
A Hootsuite report also highlights four countries in Southeast Asia as part of the top 10 countries that spend the most time per day using the internet, underscoring the potential for people in these countries to transition into metaverses eventually.
(The digital habits of SE Asia's young adults — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights )
These are some of the many signs that show immense growth potential for the metaverse industry in Asia, heavily supported by the digital-savvy consumers and strongly connected digital infrastructure in the region.
However, the diversity of the cultures and languages in Asia makes the region hard to penetrate. AsiaVerse is very well-positioned through the web3 relationships it has built in Asia for over a year, supported by the founder’s extensive experience living across the entire continent in the past decade.
AsiaVerse has a strong track record building in the metaverse, establishing unique partnerships and hosting impactful metaverse events despite only having a volunteer team.
These are some of the major metaverse accomplishments this year (as documented on our Twitter page @AsiaVerseWorld):
- Jan to May 2022: Monthly art exhibitions featuring joint participation from Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia (Pre-DCL)
- One of these events led to the successful sell-out of the Japanese NFT collection, Kawaii Skulls, after having no sales for many months
- Featured multiple top artists including Mr Misang (Korea), who was recognized as one of the top 3 highest selling artists on SuperRare last year, and Lickpalik (Indonesia), a pop cultural icon whose comics are read by most Indonesians
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Mar 2022: Asia Sings with Ukraine charity music concert, raised ~10 ETH (about $30,000) from numerous NFT collections all over Asia (Pre-DCL)
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May 2022: Collaboration with Japan Philharmonic Orchestra (est. 1956), Japan’s first symphony orchestra, to screen their ticketed performance LIVE (Pre-DCL)
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May 2022: 14 unique pop-up experiences based on various popular NFT collections globally and in Asia (CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, CloneX, Azuki, MoonBirds, World of Woman, Doodles, Karafuru, Supernormal, 8sian, Phantabear, Neo Tokyo, CyberKongz, Cool Cats)
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Aug 2022: Decentraland Art Week, featuring architecture and NFT collections from Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines
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Oct 2022: DigitX in Decentraland, partnered with De La Salle University, one of the top 3 universities in the Philippines; over 300 students participated in the online lecture sessions
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Dec 2022: Poetry showcase featuring student work from Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages – the top language university in Taiwan
Upcoming:
- Film metaverse build in partnership with Ever Rolling Films from Vietnam, based on their short film Roommate that premiered in Cannes Festival in 2018
- Asia Ape Hub to feature Bored Ape Yacht Club holders from Asia building in Web3, to offer more exposure for Decentraland across other web3 niches
Specification
The grant will cover three main aspects:
- Metaverse Development Architects: Design & Building ($5,000+ / month)
- Partnership Specialists: Business Development & Partnerships ($2,000+ / month)
- Marketing & Hybrid Events Specialists (In real life + metaverse) ($500+ / month)
- Buffer costs ($500+ / month)
- TOTAL: $8,000+ / month
As the bulk of the work will be metaverse development, for the purpose of estimating salary estimates, we can assume the following team composition:
4x Metaverse Development Architects (2 Japan, 2 Philippines), 2x Partnership Specialists, 1x Marketing (Online & Events) Specialist
- Metaverse Development Architect:
According to CryptoJobsList, the average Metaverse Architect makes an average of $55K / year, or $4.6K / month.
Assuming this is based on the US and if we adjust for Purchasing Price Parity or PPP (differences in cost of living), this will be $3.4K / month in Japan and $1.6K / month in the Philippines. Based on the above architect count, 2 x $3.4K + 2x $1.6K = $10K / month.
At least one architect is committed to building full-time (Munakata), but to be conservative we halve the estimates to $5K / month.
CryptoJobsList Data: Metaverse Architect Salary in 2023 (Updated Daily) | Crypto Jobs List (as of Dec 15, 2022)
PPP Calculator: PPP Salary Converter (as of Dec 15, 2022)
- Partnership Specialists:
Because our coverage is the entire Asia continent, there will be times where we have to travel. We assume $500 / month for travel and $1500 / month for salary each, for a total of $4K per month for two people.
Again, to be conservative we halve this amount to $2K / month.
As the goal is to build for a variety of entities in the film and education sector, the partnership specialist role is essential.
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Marketing & Hybrid Events Specialist (In real life + metaverse):
To enhance the experiences and results, on occasion we may need funds for marketing and hybrid events to maximize activation rates, or depending on the needs of the entities we are partnering with. We budget $500 / month for this expense. -
Buffer:
We budget $500 / month as a buffer.
Total budget estimated to be $8K / month.
Based on the above budget, this will give us a development runway of 7.5 months (based on conservative estimates) or less.
Over a period of 10 months, AsiaVerse aims to achieve the goals of having at least 1 large-scale film event and 1 large-scale university event, involving a total of 8 to 12 major entities from all over Asia (as above).
In reality, as the grant will only cover part of the total calculated expenses, the team will most likely take in less than that. The team will continue to build, driven by our passion to build our metaverse portfolio for the long-term and to connect Asia with the world, as we have done in 2022.
With what AsiaVerse has achieved so far with only volunteers and personal financial contributions, we are certain that we can achieve a lot more with the grant to support our efforts to expand metaverse participation and development throughout Asia, bridging East and West to drive substantial cultural and business value in a truly decentralized metaverse. AsiaVerse will be one of the major pioneers in the onboarding of people across Asia to Decentraland, striving hard to maximize metaverse potential throughout the continent.
Personnel
The team is decentralized geographically, composed of passionate metaverse enthusiasts with complementary skills.
Pan-Asian Team led by Apesian Atoza, Founder (Business Development, Partnerships)
- Apesian entered the NFT and metaverse space in early 2021, joining Last Slice and established a strong presence on web3 with over 30K followers on Twitter. He has built a strong network across Asia, living in many countries in the region for over a decade. He is also fluent in cultures and languages in Asia, a rare and valuable experience in the metaverse space. (@theNFTAsian)
Philippines Team led by Meg Amat (Metaverse Design & Development, Hybrid Events Organization, Partnerships)
- Meg has extensive experience organizing live events for many multinational firms in industries such as tech, financial services and luxury. She knows how to create meaningful experiences and has been contributing her creative skills and extensive networks to the metaverse. (@Meg_Amat)
Japan Team led by Munakata (Metaverse Development)
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Munakata has a background in science and technology and is an avid metaverse user. He is the chief architect of the experiences that we have built in the past. (@munakata_nft)
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Marimo (@marimodesign)
Vietnam Team led by Hung Le (Marketing, Partnerships)
- Hung is part of Ever Rolling Films, which produced highly acclaimed film works. He aspires to create new experiences and possibilities at the intersection of film and metaverse. (@hungle1860)
Roadmap and milestones
AsiaVerse envisions more events that involve multiple countries across Asia, focusing on film and education. Film enthusiasts and students will interact with those from other countries in Asia interactively, learning from each other like never before.
There will be three development phases, for a total of at least 7 metaverse projects:
- Phase 1: Individual Experiences (Jan-Feb 23) - 3 events
We have been cultivating relationships with film professionals and educators in East Asia and Southeast Asia and seek to build trust with top-class film studios and universities in these regions by building unique experiences and architecture.
- Phase 2: Small-scale Exchanges (Mar-May 23) - 2 events
In the next phase, we focus on simultaneous partnerships with several film studios or universities to promote exchanges between 2-3 entities. This will be similar to our DCL Art Week experience, where we featured architecture and art from three different countries.
- Phase 3: Large-scale Festivals (Jun-Oct 23) - 2 events
In the last phase, we will combine all our major partners in the film and education sectors to create large-scale exchange experiences. AsiaVerse will become known as a connector, creating new value in these sectors through the metaverse.
The main goal of this grant is for us to gain strong credibility in the film and education space by launching the first pan-Asian metaverse film festival experience and the first pan-Asian university exchange among students.
