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Amazon, Qualcomm & More Invest $11.2M in TRIPP to Build the “mindful metaverse”

From roadtovr

TRIPP, a developer creating VR meditation experiences, announced it’s secured $11.2 million funding round which it says will be used to expand so it can meet growing global demand for mental wellbeing apps accessible through AR, VR and mobile platforms.

The Series A was led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Qualcomm, Amazon Alexa Fund, HTC, Niantic and existing investor Mayfield. This brings the Los Angeles-based company’s funding to $26.3 million to date, adding to an $11 million funding round announced in June 2021.

The company says funds will be used to expand its team in addition to supporting the acquisition of VR worldbuilding platform Eden from BeardedEye, creators of the Galactic Gallery (2017) VR experience.

TRIPP says Eden, which is its third acquisition, will also soon launch on its eponymous VR platform, which the company says will enable users to further “customize their TRIPP experience, explore digital realities and meet other people.”

“With over one billion people globally suffering from depression, anxiety, or stress, we’re hopeful that innovations like TRIPP can be a part of the solution,” said Moritz Baier-Lentz, partner at BITKRAFT Ventures. “Beyond a great product that is already a leader in its category, there was a lot to like about what Nanea and the TRIPP team have built. It’s rare to find such a combination of authentic founder-market fit, operational excellence, and an exciting vision with many avenues for future growth.”

“We’re grateful that more and more investors are recognizing the need for innovative wellness tools that expand beyond traditional meditation apps,” said Nanea Reeves, founder and CEO of TRIPP. “Through our acquisition of Eden, we’re one step closer to truly building a mindful metaverse and establishing a safe space for transformative experiences in digital realities while also empowering creators to join us in our mission.”

TRIPP is available across a host of devices, including Meta Quest 2, Vive Flow, PSVR, Nreal, and both the Web and mobile platforms. The app features guided meditations, calming environments, binaural audio for meditation, breathing exercises, and the ability to track your progress. The app is priced at either $5 per month, or $35 for lifetime access.

Lynx Secures $4M in Series A Funding, Aims to Become “European Champion of Mixed Reality”

From roadtovr

Lynx, the French XR hardware startup known for crowdfunding the Lynx R-1 mixed reality headset, today announced it’s secured $4 million in its Series A round, led by social VR platform Somnium Space.

Alongside Somnium Space, participants in the latest funding round also include what Lynx calls early supporters of the company and “other investors involved in the AR/VR field such as ex-Meta and Google engineers.”

This brings the company’s total outside funding to $6.8 million, according to Crunchbase data, following the R-1 headset’s $800,000 Kickstarter campaign back in late 2021 and a seed round of $2 million in early 2019.  As a part of the deal Artur Sychov, founder & CEO of Somnium Space, is joining the company’s board of directors.

Built on Qualcomm’s XR2 chipset, Lynx R-1 combines high quality cameras and virtual reality displays to achieve passthrough AR in addition to standard VR (aka, mixed reality), making it an early pioneer of the category. The headset also ditches the standard Fresnel lenses for a novel optic called a “four-fold catadioptric freeform prism,” which is said to slim down the size of Lynx R-1 seemingly beyond what current Fresnels can do.

“At Somnium Space we truly believe in the future of open and decentralized Metaverse which empowers its users. This includes, not only software, but also very importantly hardware,” says Artur Sychov, Founder & CEO of Somnium Space. “The Lynx team led by Stan has created an extraordinary AR / VR device (Lynx-r) with openness in mind which will change and revolutionize the way we all think and interact with this market category. I am very happy to support this company and believe that together we will push the boundaries and potential of the VR/AR industry forward.”

Founded in 2019, Lynx has high ambitions for its R-1 headset too. Priced at $600 for its consumer version, the company is looking to lead the way into the same product category that many established players are soon to enter, including Meta with Project Cambria and Apple with its rumored headset, reportedly code named N301.

“We have this opportunity right here to create the European Champion of Mixed Reality with our work at Lynx, supported by a vibrant community of users and developers desperate to see alternatives to Big Tech companies products and their closed ecosystems.” says Stan Larroque, founder and CEO of Lynx. “What’s the point of creating a European Metaverse if the underlying platform, the door we use to access it, remains in the hands of the same big players with their damaging business models?” he adds.

Since finalizing the design of Lynx R-1, the company has also completed an office expansion in Paris, now at more 200 square meters of R&D, and established a new office in Taiwan.

Google Acquires MicroLED Startup Raxium to Bolster AR Ambitions

From roadtovr

Google is adding to its portfolio of XR microdisplay designs and talent, as the company announced it’s acquired microLED (µLED) designer Raxium.

The acquisition was previously reported by The Information in March, however now Google has confirmed in a blog post that it has indeed acquired Raxium, a five-year old startup building microdisplays for use in AR and VR headsets.

The Information’s report held Raxium was sold to Google for $1 billion, however official details of the acquisition are still murky. Google says Raxium will join its Devices & Services team, which is tasked with development of Google’s consumer devices.

Image courtesy Raxium, Google

It’s thought that Raxium will allow for Google to create lighter, cheaper displays for its upcoming AR devices. While conventional Super AMOLEDs found in smartphones measure around 50 µm per pixel, Raxium says it’s shrunk its microdisplays to feature µLED measuring 3.5 µm per pixel. The company claims its technology has led to an efficiency “5X greater than the previously published world record.”

“The team at Raxium has spent five years creating miniaturized, cost-effective and energy efficient high-resolution displays that have laid the foundation for future display technologies. Raxium’s technical expertise in this area will play a key role as we continue to invest in our hardware efforts,” says Rick Osterloh, senior VP of Google’s Devices & Services team.

Google is undoubtedly gearing up to release XR headsets of some type in the future, which may compete with devices from Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Snap. In 2020, Google acquired North, a Canada-based company known for creating unobtrusive prescription-compatible smartglasses—a sight more stylish than Google Glass. Check out our primer on the difference between smartglasses and AR headsets to learn more.

Earlier this year Google snapped up Bernard Kress, principal optical architect on the Microsoft HoloLens team. Kress is now the Director of XR Engineering at Google Labs, an internal XR division founded late last year. According to previous reports, Google Labs is currently working on an AR headset, code named Project Iris, which is rumored to ship sometime in 2024.

Reports detailing Project Iris maintain a device providing a standalone experience with onboard power, computing, and outward-facing cameras for world sensing capabilities—similar in description and function to headsets like HoloLens or Magic Leap.

Surgery Training Platform ‘Osso VR’ Secures $66M Series C Financing

From roadtovr

Osso VR, the VR surgical training platform, today announced it’s closed a $66 million Series C financing round, something the company says will be used to broaden its VR surgical offering and hire more expert talent.

The Series C round was led by Oak HC/FT, which includes participation from Signalfire, GSR Ventures, Tiger Global Management and Kaiser Permanente Ventures.

This brings the company’s lifetime outside investment to around $109 million, with its $27 million Series B arriving in July 2021.

Founded in late 2016 by UCLA and Harvard-trained orthopedic surgeon Justin Barad, MD, Osso VR’s surgical training tech provides on-demand, educational experiences to surgeons with a focus on acquainting them with emerging techniques and technologies. The company works with industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, Zimmer Biomet and Smith & Nephew.

More recently, Osso VR made strides during the COVID-19 pandemic since its VR training allows medical professionals to learn and practice from a distance. It provides modules across a number of fields, including orthopedics, endoscopy, and a host of interventional procedures.

The company has now grown to more than 150 employees, and Osso VR says it plans to grow “exponentially” over the next year.

“The future at Osso VR is incredibly bright. Each step of the way, we’ve stayed true to our mission to democratize healthcare and seen the results that our platform brings to surgical training and assessment,” said Barad. “This round of investment supports the next step of our journey to provide access to all healthcare professionals. I couldn’t be more excited to take this next step with such a talented, passionate team.”

AmazeVR Secures $15M to Bring Immersive Concerts to VR

From roadtovr

AmazeVR, a Los Angeles-based company creating on-demand VR video, has raised $15 million in funding to refocus its efforts to create VR concerts. The company says its first major immersive concert will feature artist Megan Thee Stallion and debut this Spring at activations in select AMC theaters. In the future the company also plans to offer its immersive concerts to at-home headsets.

Update (January 11th, 2022): AmazeVR today announced that its latest funding totals $15 million. This includes $9.5 million raised in early 2021, purportedly bringing the company’s total funding to $30.8M.

The $15 million bridge financing round saw participation by Partners Investment, Smilegate Investment, Quantum Ventures Korea, ABC Partners, Everrich Group, and GS Futures, according to AmazeVR.

“This funding allows us to keep hiring aggressively,” says AmazeVR co-CEO Ernest Lee. “In 2021, we tripled our team in Hollywood and Seoul. We’ve been able to attract top talent from the industries we touch. This puts us in an ideal position to take full advantage of VR and the metaverse’s growing popularity, as we deliver breathtaking VR concerts from major artists, first to theaters, then to homes worldwide.”

The funding comes ahead of the company’s first “VR concert tour,” which will bring an immersive concert experience featuring artist Megan Thee Stallion to select AMC theaters this Spring. AmazeVR says the experience makes use of “proprietary 9K cameras” for capturing artists, environments based on Unreal Engine, and operates with some 100 headsets simultaneously.

In the future the company plans to use the same tech and platform to release new immersive concerts on a regular basis, including a at-home releases for those with VR headsets of their own.

The original article, which covers the $9.5 million portion of the AmazeVR investment from early 2021, continues below.

Original Article (April 12th, 2021): The latest round was led by Murex Partners, with participation from We Ventures, Bass Investment, and Dunamu & Partners. Additional existing investors joining the round include Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Partners Investment, and Timewise Investment.

According to data reported by Crunchbase, the latest round brings the company’s lifetime financing to $25.3 million.

Founded in 2015, AmazeVR previously focused on building out its 360 video subscription service for VR headsets, which features a variety of content. The company has however recently pivoted to exclusively recording musical artists, letting fans get an up-close and personal view of pre-recorded content which has been mashed up with computer-generated effects.

“[M]ost artists do not spend all their time on the road, often only touring every few years, and when they are on tour, it’s only possible to hit the largest countries and cities,” the company explains in a press statement. “With AmazeVR’s Immersive Concert experience, however, artists can reach fans through movie theaters, VR headsets, unique pop-up events, and more.”

AmazeVR says it’s been working closely with artists and labels over the past several months, and that it now aims to ‘reinvent’ the fan experience.

“We’re rapidly building out our artist pipeline and striking broad distribution agreements to bring stellar artist-to-fan engagement to millions of people worldwide,” says Ernest Lee, co-CEO of AmazeVR. “Our efforts are further assisted by interest in the VR market, with Apple preparing to release a VR headset and the Oculus Quest 2 representing a growing percentage of Facebook’s revenue. As more and more consumers gain access to VR technologies– be they through headsets, theaters, or even their phones– there is enormous potential for Immersive Concerts.”

A pop-up activation is slated to arrive in LA sometime this year, which is said to include a virtual tour bus fitted with haptic chairs and VR headsets.

Additional reporting by Ben Lang

Leading Hand-tracking Company Ultraleap Raises $82 Million Investment

From roadtovr

Ultraleap, a leading company focused on hand-tracking interfaces, this week announced it has secured a £60 million (~$82 million) Series D investment, with the goal of expanding its hand-tracking and mid-air haptic tech in the XR space and beyond.

Formerly known as Ultrahaptics, Ultraleap was formed after the UK-based haptics company acquired leading hand-tracking company Leap Motion back in 2019. The new name clearly defined the merger’s unique combination of mid-air ultrasonic haptics now underpinned by some of the best hand-tracking tech in the industry.

This week Ultraleap announced it has raised a £60 million (~$82 million) Series D investment with participation from new investors Tencent, British Patient Capital, and CMB International, alongside existing investors Mayfair Equity Partners and IP Group plc.

“With this investment round, Ultraleap will continue to bring Gemini to different operating systems and increase their investment in tooling to enable developers to build more applications using the best interface—your hands. Ultraleap will also continue to invest in R&D to drive their machine-learning-based hand tracking even further ahead,” the company said in its investment announcement.

Ultraleap is betting that hand-tracking will be the primary input for XR and the metaverse. Last month the company released its latest revision.

While the company has been trying to get its tech into the XR space for many years now, it has yet to find significant traction. Though Ultraleap hand-tracking can be found on a few headsets like those from Varjo and Pimax, leading devices implementing hand-tracking—like Quest 2, HoloLens, and Magic Leap—are using their own solutions, as far as we know.

However, with a growing number of XR devices on the market and the steady march toward consumer-friendly AR glasses, the company seems poised to find the right fit eventually.

Ultraleap is also looking to find a home for its tech outside of the XR realm. The company has long been angling its tech in the automotive space as an in-car interface, as well as the out-of-home space in areas like exhibits, marketing installations, and touchless self-service kiosks.

Social VR Startup Raises $57 Million Investment Led by Major Japanese Mobile Network

From roadtovr

Japanese social VR startup HIKKY announced today that it has raised ¥6.5 billion (~$57 million), led by Japanese mobile network operator NTT Docomo. The startup says it will use the funds to expand its web-based metaverse platform.

Founded in 2018, Japan-based Hikky is best known for its series of ‘Vket’ events, virtual marketplaces where exhibitors market and sell real and virtual goods to attendees.

Image courtesy Hikky

The company says that its virtual events have drawn more than a million visitors and have attracted major brands as exhibitors like HP, Tencent, Disney, Bandai Namco, Audi, and more, algonside independent creators selling virtual goods.

A Disney branded booth at a Vket event | Image courtesy Hikky

Following its latest Vket 6 event this Summer, the company today announced it has raised a ¥6.5 billion (~$57 million) Series A funding round, led by Japanese mobile network operator NTT Docomo (other participants weren’t revealed). Hikky says the amount is the “initial stage” of the Series A funding round, and that it is open to additional funding.

The company says the capital will be used to strengthen its foundation, expand products both domestically and abroad, and continue to develop its web-based metaverse platform, Vket Cloud.

While the company’s Vket events have largely been hosted in social VR platform VRChat, Hikky is betting long term on its own Vket Cloud platform, which it says is designed as an open metaverse platform where users can host virtual spaces on their own domains which are accessible through any web browser, be it in or out of VR.

Sandbox VR Announces $37M Series B Funding to Expand Out-of-home VR Locations

From roadtovr

Out-of-home VR destination Sandbox VR today announced an additional $37 million funding round that the company is using to support its continued expansion. In addition to its dozen worldwide locations, Sandbox VR says it’s working to nearly doubling that.

The Series B funding was led by a16z, and includes participation by Alibaba and Craft. According to Crunchbase data, this puts their lifetime outside financing to around $120 million.

Like pretty much everyone in the out-of-home entertainment sector, Sandbox VR went through its own share of financial challenges over the past year due to COVID-19 closures. It both filed for, and reemerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy following debt restructure.

“We are excited to use the latest round of funding for content development, cutting edge technology and accelerated growth,” says Steve Zhao, CEO and founder of Sandbox VR. “With more stores on the way, we’ll be ramping up our internal studios as well as developing our SDK to open up publishing in the near future.”

And it appears Sandbox VR is making a quick comeback. The company opened three locations in July—Austin, Las Vegas, and Shanghai—and is aiming to open ten more as it enters 2022. Currently, the company operates 12 locations across North America and Asia. Paramus (New Jersey), Toronto (Canada) and London (UK) locations are marked as “coming soon.”

The fresh funding round suggests that VR arcades may be seeing a renewal in investor confidence, although Sandbox VR is probably one of the best-positioned in the sector due to its relatively small physical footprint requirements, in-house content studio, and licensed IP such as its Star Trek: Discovery multiplayer missions.

Sandbox VR has survived The VOID, one of its biggest competitors (certainly the most flashy), which permanently closed all locations worldwide last year. Coincidentally, The VOID’s flagship space at the Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas is now a Sandbox VR location.