Metaverse social platform "BUD" announced the completion of a $15 million Series A+ funding round, with Source Code Capital participating in the investment.

Global metaverse social platform BUD Technologies, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "BUD") announced the completion of a $15 million Series A+ funding round, led by Qiming Venture Partners, with existing shareholders Source Code Capital, GGV Capital, and Sky9 Capital making additional investments beyond their pro-rata rights. Mumian Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round. The proceeds will be primarily allocated to overseas product development and user growth.

Founded in 2019, BUD's founding team hails from Silicon Valley social platforms including Snapchat and Facebook. The company currently employs nearly 100 people and expects to expand to 200 by 2022. "We will establish a global hub in Singapore, with localized operations and development teams in core regions worldwide," said Shawn, BUD's co-founder.

As a next-generation UGC social platform, BUD enables every user to create personalized 3D interactive content through intuitive, no-code tools. Its target audience is Gen Z globally, and it is rapidly becoming a preferred social platform for this demographic. BUD combines immersive metaverse experiences, the distinctive individuality of UGC, and intelligent recommendation of massive 3D digital content — blending trending topics, fashion, and creative expression in ways that resonate with Gen Z, while continually expanding the boundaries of what social platforms can become.

BUD Editor

According to App Annie data, BUD's iOS international version officially launched on November 5, 2021, with the Google Play version following on October 30, 2021. Within one month of its global release, BUD achieved zero-cost viral distribution across other social media platforms, ranking in the top 5 social apps on the App Store in multiple countries including the United States, and has maintained rapid growth in the months since. Sensor Tower data indicates that BUD reached 1.2 million monthly downloads across both platforms in December 2021.

BUD's growth stems from product strength. Co-founder Risa explained that BUD has genuinely lowered the barrier to 3D creation. Many of BUD's creators are ordinary people with no programming or modeling background in their daily lives. Using BUD's no-code tools, they can produce 3D content that is both entertaining and highly flexible. Users can experience the spark of creation from zero to one; build maps with extreme creative freedom; and realize personalized expression through rich props including music blocks, text boxes, portals, and rotation effects.

3D interactive content created by BUD users

On future plans, co-founder Shawn stated: "In the near to medium term, BUD will prioritize user growth and product refinement. Only by truly lowering creation barriers and improving content quality can we acquire and retain users — so continuous iteration of our core editor will always be central to our work. Additionally, while AIGC remains relatively early-stage, algorithmic recommendation for 3D content is already becoming a competitive moat for the industry. Looking further ahead, diversification and monetization are inevitable paths. BUD is already laying groundwork for operating massive digital assets on the platform and building out the commercial ecosystem that social platforms can encompass."

Xingchen Zhang of Source Code Capital commented: "As technology continues to evolve, more accessible and democratized technical capabilities are gradually bringing generational new experiences to consumers — particularly younger digital natives, who are unleashing their creative potential and demand for more native forms of connection amid this wave. The BUD team is full of entrepreneurial spirit and passion, adept at thinking deeply about native product characteristics, bold in continuous innovation and iteration, and capable of grasping macro trends with a global perspective. We look forward to BUD's continued rapid development, bringing more surprises to users worldwide, sparking their imagination, and delivering richly immersive experiences."

Originally published on 36Kr, by Ben.

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