bemyfriends Participates in TECHTAINMENT 2026 SEOUL b.stage Receives Digital Asset Awards

SEOUL, Korea - September. 21, 2026 — b.stage, the fandom business solution operated by global Fan-Tech company bemyfriends (CEO Steve Seo), received the 2026 Digital Asset Awards at the TECHTAINMENT 2026 SEOUL Forum & Awards, held Sept. 18 at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul.

The TECHTAINMENT 2026 SEOUL Forum & Awards was held under the theme "AI in K-CULTURE" as part of ENTER-TECH SEOUL 2026, hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Business Agency (SBA) from Sept. 17 to 20. The forum examined how AI is reshaping creative work, industry and urban life, bringing together researchers, founders and artists to discuss the culture of the next era from their respective perspectives, with achievements in the field honored through the awards. The program also explored the global opportunities emerging from AI and K-culture along with insights into the latest technology and creative trends, while providing a venue for networking among attendees.

The award was presented through the 2026 Digital Asset Awards, organized by the International Digital Asset Committee (IDAC) together with AIDOL101. Established in 2021, the Digital Asset Awards recognize individuals, institutions, services and content that have contributed to the development and social application of the digital asset industry across areas including policy, law and regulation, research, education, culture and services. This year the awards broadened their scope beyond financial assets to include AI-generated content and the value of creators' work, presenting separate Digital Asset Leader Awards to artists selected through a global open call in the categories of AI visual media, AI music and AI creative experience.

bemyfriends was recognized for extending fandom — an intangible relationship — into a domain that IP holders can actively operate and grow. Its approach of designing fan activity and experience to accumulate as business assets for the IP, rather than dissipate, aligns with the industry shift in which the concept of digital assets is expanding into creative work and content.

In August, bemyfriends opened this infrastructure to external developers, releasing a software development kit (SDK) that allows IP holders to build their own apps or independent fandom platforms. Because the fandom business logic standardized by K-POP — including membership, real-time two-way communication, and commerce and logistics across 220 countries — is already built in, IP holders can configure services suited to their own needs without developing core functions from scratch. The infrastructure has also been applied to FLO ZIP, the global fandom platform introduced by Dreamus Company, a bemyfriends subsidiary.

This carries added significance amid the spread of AI. Building a proprietary fandom platform has long been viewed as the domain of a small number of large operators, requiring substantial development organizations and years of investment. As the complex functions of fandom business are productized into infrastructure and the development layered on top of it becomes lighter in the AI era, an environment is opening in which IP of any size can build its own fandom service directly.

Fandom platforms built on b.stage now number 400. More than 1,200 artists and IP holders — including K-POP artists, e-sports teams, sports stars, musicals and global content IP — connect with their fandoms on b.stage, with services available in more than 220 countries. A cumulative 13 million fans have connected with artists through these platforms.

At the forum, CEO Steve Seo delivered a presentation titled "Own Your Fandom." Seo noted that in an environment centered on social platforms, IP holders find it difficult to identify who their fans are and have limited means of translating fan relationships into business, adding that "the next stage of the fandom business begins with IP designing and growing its relationship with fans on its own terms."

Seo continued: "Competition in the fandom business is shifting from whose platform you meet fans on to who owns the relationship with those fans. Now that AI has lowered the threshold for development, we intend to build the fandom business logic created by K-POP into standard infrastructure that IP around the world can construct as their own."

Going forward, b.stage plans to expand collaboration with partners across K-POP, acting and other fields, broadening the reach of the fandom business through its Fandom Business 360 model spanning fan communities, memberships, content and commerce.