NFTs in M’sia this week: Local startup helps SMEs grow revenue streams via the metaverse

Previously, we learnt of a 13-year-old who’s been selling NFTs of his art and hopes to create a game around his work one day. We also reported an event highlighting women in NFTs, for International Women’s Day.

This week, there are more exciting finds that point to larger-scale movement in the NFT space.

Bringing Malaysian businesses to the metaverse

With the pandemic’s lockdowns, more Malaysian businesses have adapted to the digital world. But that’s seemingly no longer enough, with the impending global shift towards the metaverse and Web3.

Hence, Meta Universe (MU) was built by a Malaysian team to help local businesses navigate what could be a new and unfamiliar space to them. 

The company aims to be a B2B solutions provider offering a comprehensive range of Web3 services that will enable businesses to expand their existing products or services into the virtual realm.

It will do so by leveraging Web3 technology and elements including the metaverse, digital assets, virtual infrastructure, and cryptocurrency.

MU’s services will range from conceptualising viable business models for the metaverse, creating and managing virtual campaigns, purchasing virtual lands, and financing projects, to name a few.

To start off, MU is working with Pinky Joshi, an independent artist, and LINEAGE by Vana Fine, a boutique jewellery brand. The goal is to help them generate an additional income stream and expand their respective target markets using MU’s services and solutions, and NFTs.

A portion of the proceeds from the sales of NFTs and Pinky Joshi physical artworks will be donated to the National Cancer Society Malaysia to support cancer patients and survivors.

Increasing women and Asian representation in Web3

In our previous coverage of NFT events happening in Malaysia, women were given the spotlight to showcase digital artworks highlighting a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

Previously, I didn’t have much of an opinion on the NFT space mostly being dominated by men. But, I’m now starting to hear more voices from female artists in the space themselves speaking about this subject, one of them being the creators behind Gendora.

Gendora is an NFT project started by two sisters, Wan Poh Yee and Rebecca. The project is inspired by their real-life experiences and traditional Chinese background, whereby Asian females tend to play a more submissive role in society. 

“And when we entered the NFT space, we saw some similarities in it,” Poh Yee told Vulcan Post. “So we noticed that there was a huge gender gap between the males and females that are in this space, where most blue chip NFT projects are started by males and the whole NFT community is also very male-dominated.” 

Dictionary time: The term “blue chip” is used to refer to NFT projects that are believed to retain a high value well into the future.

There’s also a lack of Asian representation in the space, so the sisters started the project to have more Asian representation in the world of NFTs and Web3.

In line with the sisters’ goal to educate women in the community, Poh Yee hosted a workshop called How To Draw Your First NFT Collection.

Targeting new artists or anyone who’s looking to start creating their own project but don’t know how, the workshop saw 25 participants, which Poh Yee considered a good turnout rate.

“Creating generative art is very different from creating a traditional art piece, and if you look it up on YouTube, there are no tutorials on creating generative art,” she pointed out. 

With an iPad, Procreate, and an Apple Pencil, Poh Yee taught participants the techniques of generative art, and the mistakes to avoid when they start creating their own.

Astro’s esports arm to launch a P2E game

This week, we reported that Astro, through its esports and entertainment arm, eGG Network, has displayed its interest in the NFT world.

Via a partnership with Singaporean-based gaming studio, Quinzy, the companies will be developing a play-to-earn (P2E) game called Buddy Beater.

Buddy Beater is envisioned to be a 2D animated multiplayer battle royale game.

Gamers will battle one another, playing as any four species in the game, Sapiens, Beast, Ancient, and Mutant, which carry their own specifications and wield randomly assigned weapons.

Buddy Beater will be launched in May 2022, and interested gamers can register for Buddy Beater’s whitelist from now until April 25. 

18,888 avatars are up for grabs, and will be minted at 0.08 ETH or RM927.27 at the time of writing (excluding gas fees) on May 3, 2022. There will be no initial coin offerings (ICO), pre-sale, or Airdrops.

Featured Image Credit: Gendora / Meta Universe / Buddy Beater