The core of a superstar is fandom. I founded it to help the core fandom grow rapidly.
Pond Makers is a fandom platform startup that integrates blockchain technology into the content market. It was founded by CEO Park I-rae in July 2022.
CEO Park said, "I graduated with a degree in business administration and worked as an officer. I love and have a passion for the music, content, and film industries, so I gave up studying abroad right after my military service to establish the company."
For Park, Pond Makers is his third startup. He previously operated a travel startup, noting, "As I delved deeply into the music content market, I noticed structural problems and worked to resolve them."
Park named the company 'Pond Makers' with the thought of wanting to be a growth pond for artists. Pond Makers' fandom platform 'Good Duck' is an official community application (app) that enables artists and fans to communicate. The number of artists contracted with Good Duck has surpassed 60, including Touched, Yudabin Band, and Gift, with over 240 active stars. The app has exceeded 50,000 downloads, with approximately 18,000 total users.
Fans can chat with their favorite stars on Good Duck, as well as listen to or own rare demo songs sung by the stars. Pond Makers creates rare content as digital goods and uses blockchain and digital rights management (DRM) technology to provide a differentiated digital collection experience for enthusiasts. These technologies ensure safe transmission of content and data integrity, while supporting interaction between artists and fans.
Park emphasized that "the process for consumers to buy and pay for digital goods was too cumbersome and difficult," adding, "Particularly, there were many concerns about rare content, so we added technology to virtualize them and enhanced security by incorporating NFT and digital watermarking technologies."
A strength of Good Duck is that it monetized 'membership' services by providing core communication for free while charging for premium features. Revenue generated from the membership is shared with the affiliated agencies and artists in a certain proportion. As the number of affiliated artists increases, the revenue size can also grow.
Park said, "We plan to hold a concert featuring all the artists we've partnered with early next year," adding that "the fact that agency artists and true fans are customers of Good Duck, with a high average income per person, is also an advantage."
Pond Makers has received investments from The Innovators and the Daegu Creative Economy Innovation Center, as well as joint investments from MY Social Company and Danal Investment, and has also been selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startups). It will receive research and development support worth up to 500 million won over the next two years.
Park stated, "Through research and development, we plan to strengthen copyright protection and the safety of fan data on the fandom platform, while improving technical completeness to aggressively target the global digital fandom market."