Club Penguin founder and Dragons’ Den star Lane Merrifield’s journey to the metaverse and back

Kelowna-based CEO-turned-investor has a knack for growing communities in both the real and virtual worlds.

Credit: Darren Hull

By the time Lane Merrifield turned 28 years old, he and his two partners, Lance Priebe and Dave Krysko, had sold their Kelowna, BC-based company Club Penguin to Disney for USD $350 million.

Club Penguin was a subscription-based online world built for kids: a place where they came to create their own characters, meet and play games with…