Vlast
1 known investors
VLAST is a virtual entertainment company that uses game engine technology to create real-time graphics for interactive communication and experiences.
Also known as Byte Eleven · V.AND · 블래스트
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026VLAST (Korean: 블래스트) is a South Korean virtual entertainment company that builds real-time graphics experiences on top of game engine technology, positioning real-time rendered characters as a medium for communication and entertainment. The company is described as a digital character developer that produces virtual characters, applying VFX-based technology to create game-engine-driven virtual avatar characters that can be supplied to game developers and used in game development.
VLAST also operates as an entertainment agency for virtual artists. It is the agency behind the virtual group PLAVE, whose members are listed as Yejun, Noah, Bamby, Eunho and Hamin, with the group associated with the company from 2022 and the idols from 2023. The company is headquartered in Seoul and was established in 2022.
Founding story
VLAST originated in 2021 as an internal startup within the Korean television network MBC, initially operating under the name 'Byte Eleven' and led by Lee Sung-goo; social media accounts were later created that year under the name V.AND. In February 2022 the venture became independent from MBC and was renamed VLAST, with Lee Sung-goo as founder and CEO.
Business model
VLAST develops and supplies virtual avatar characters used in game development to client game developers, and operates as the agency for virtual artist acts such as PLAVE.
Traction
PLAVE, the virtual group for which VLAST is the agency, debuted in 2023 and achieved significant popularity. The company reported around 90 employees.
Latest developments
Following the March 2023 pre-Series A round from Schmidt and DSC Investment, VLAST announced in 2024 that it had received capital investments from HYBE and YG Plus to support international expansion. Investors listed on its profile include IPX Corporation, MBC and DSC Investment.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Categorised as a software company in the multimedia and graphics sub-sector with a virtual reality vertical, at an angel/seed company stage as of the Preqin profile.
VLAST combines game engine and VFX pipelines to produce its own virtual character IP, stating that funding is directed at accelerating the securing of core intellectual property.
Technology
The company builds on game engine technology to generate real-time graphics, and uses visual-effects (VFX) based technology to create its own game-engine virtual characters.
Go-to-market
Game developers seeking virtual characters, and audiences for its virtual artist and entertainment IP.
Geography
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, with stated plans to use investment from HYBE and YG Plus to support international expansion.
History
After spinning out of MBC in February 2022, VLAST began introducing Yejun as a K-pop idol on its social media around the middle of that year while still using the V.AND name for the project; the V.AND name was subsequently discontinued in favour of VLAST alone. In 2023 the virtual group PLAVE officially debuted and gained significant popularity. In March 2023 VLAST raised KRW 2 billion in pre-Series A funding, and the following year the company announced capital investments from HYBE and YG Plus intended to support international expansion.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsVLAST announced it had received capital investments from HYBE and YG Plus to support its international expansion.
VLAST raised KRW 2 billion in pre-Series A funding from new investors Schmidt and DSC Investment, to be used to speed up securing core IP.
PLAVE, the virtual group for which VLAST is the agency, officially debuted in 2023 and achieved significant popularity.
The company became independent from MBC in February 2022 and changed its name to VLAST.
Prior to its official launch, the company began in 2021 as an internal startup within the MBC television network under the name 'Byte Eleven', led by Lee Sung-goo; social media accounts were created later that year under the name V.AND.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Vlastvlast.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Vlast do?
- VLAST is a Seoul-based virtual entertainment company using game-engine real-time graphics and VFX to create virtual characters and artists.
- Who are Vlast's investors?
- Vlast's investors include Atinum Investment Co. Ltd..