Investment management firm Invesco is launching a metaverse fund to back innovative companies across the emerging ecosystem. The move comes as the Atlanta, Georgia-based firm is looking to “deliver a £1.4trn boost to the global economy” by supporting metaverse projects across the US, Asia, and Europe.

Invesco Metaverse Fund to Focus On Promising Metaverse Startups

Invesco, an investment firm with almost $1.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM), is rolling out the Invesco Metaverse Fund to support a range of promising startups building virtual worlds. The Luxembourg-registered fund will back small, medium, and large-cap metaverse projects across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Invesco said the fund will focus on seven primary areas including “next-generation operating and computer systems; hardware and devices that provide access to the metaverse; networks for hyper-connectivity; immersive platforms developed with artificial intelligence; blockchain; interchange tools for interoperability; and services and assets facilitating the digitization of the real economy.”

Invesco’s fund manager Tony Roberts believes the metaverse space offers a “£1.4trn boost to the global economy” and the interconnectivity that the industry enables is likely to make a lasting impact on other industries including healthcare, and logistics, sports, and education. The Invesco Metaverse Fund will be managed by Roberts and another fund manager James McDermottroe – both part of Invesco’s Asia and emerging markets equities team.

The fund marks another important endeavor for the global investment management firm, which launched its first blockchain exchange-traded fund (ETF) in 2019. The company also teamed up with Galaxy Digital last year to work on multiple crypto-related ETFs.

Founded in 1978, Invesco is an independent investment management firm with more than 8,000 employees across 25 countries. It is the 13th biggest asset manager on the globe.

Metaverse Welcomes New Major Players

Invesco’s new fund represents another effort by a major company to tap into unique opportunities within the rapidly-growing metaverse ecosystem. A recent research report by the Fortune Business Insights (FBI) projects the metaverse market to grow from $100.27 billion in 2022 to $1.527 trillion by 2029.

“Metaverse is a simulated digital environment that is enabled with augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality, Blockchain, and others. These technologies are used to create areas for a rich user experience of the virtual space.”

– The FBI Report

Last week, Gordon Ramsay’s globally-known reality cooking show Hell’s Kitchen also forayed into the metaverse through a partnership with The Sandbox. The partnership is expected to create Hell’s Kitchen-themed virtual experiences in The Sandbox, hosted by ITV Studios.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

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