Background
Bob Iger, the former chairman and CEO of Disney, is investing in a startup that aims to dominate the future of the internet and metaverse. 3D avatar start-up Genies revealed that Iger has joined the board of directors and invested an undisclosed amount in the Los Angeles firm.
Genies was formed in 2017 and offers a mobile app that allows users to create their own custom digital avatars – three-dimensional cartoon versions of themselves – for their social media profiles, as well as the opportunity to visit the metaverse.
The 5-year-old start-up, which stated it would rely on Iger’s assistance to develop, said it will count on his help to so. Users could develop “avatar ecosystems,” where they can create everything from digital fashion lines for avatars to the online environments in which those avatars may interact.
Bob Iger’s love for art and technology
Akash Nigam, 29, the co-founder and CEO of Genies, praised Iger’s participation in a press release, writing that he “can’t think of a better creative and product thinker than Bob to work with.”
Bob Iger has been the Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company for the past 15 years, having joined in 2005. He was in charge of the firm’s significant expenditures in technology, paying more than $7 billion to acquire Pixar in 2007 and developing the streaming and augmented reality technologies throughout the company.
“I’ve always been drawn to the intersection between technology and art, and Genies provides unique and compelling opportunities to harness the power of that combination to enable new forms of creativity, expression and communication, said Bob Iger.
Iger stepping down from Disney
Iger told CNBC in December that new technologies regularly disrupt the ways that media giants like Disney tell stories. After stepping down, the former Disney executive has hinted at his interest in the development of the internet – sometimes known as “internet 3.0” or “Web 3.0”, as well as the metaverse.
Iger added, “I believe the next iteration of the web will be considerably more compelling in experience, without a doubt more immersive, three-dimensional”. Iger knows that there will be many different digital realms to explore, and that user’s avatars would play a significant part in this as they move from one metaverse to the next.
That’s precisely the sort of metaverse experience that a business like Genies is hoping for. The objective is to develop a unified avatar system that may be used across an open metaverse. More brands are entering the industry, many of them designing shoes and clothing for the avatars. Gucci, for example, has collaborated on branded digital goods with Genies and has established a marketplace for NFT smart assets.
