Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

HTC, GREE, and others invest $1.2 million in VR social platform VRChat

Danny Cowan
By

social vr platform chat secures 1 million in funding vrchat
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Virtual reality social networking platform VRChat has successfully raised $1.2 million as part of its initial round of funding, earning the support of industry heavy-hitters like HTC and GREE VR Capital.

Other investors include Rothenberg Ventures and Brightstone Venture Capital. The platform’s creators note that seed investments “will be used to fund VRChat’s continued expansion and for further investment in product development.”

Recommended Videos

Founded in 2014, VRChat is a cross-platform VR application for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive devices that allows users to immerse themselves in customizable virtual worlds. While exploring VRChat’s detailed environments, players can chat with fellow VR fans using a framework similar to Second Life and other socially oriented virtual worlds.

Related

“We offer users one application with infinite social VR experiences,” said VRChat founder Graham Gaylor. “We empower users to create their own social VR experience, where users have the freedom to easily create their own avatars, worlds, hangouts and games, and then explore that content with their friends.”

Gaylor continued: “We’re working hard to build that platform, and this capital helps us get there faster. We’re excited to have a syndicate of partners on board that provide us with not only capital, but also vast strategic experience in the VR ecosystem.”

HTC, manufacturer of the HTC Vive virtual reality headset, has faith that VRChat will help the company achieve its goal of globalizing virtual reality.

“HTC has been at the forefront of consumer VR, pioneering several ground breaking technologies and working tirelessly to deliver the best VR experiences on the market, winning multiple awards and receiving critical acclaim from media, consumers and the industry,” HTC’s vice president of global VR content Joel Breton said. “With our investment in VRChat, we look to further our ultimate vision: to bring VR into the lives of people around the globe so they can experience immersive social VR in a way that fires the imagination and truly changes the world.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Danny Cowan
Danny Cowan
Contributor
Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…
Meta calls prototype VR displays ‘as vivid and realistic as the physical world’
Mark Zuckerberg wearing a prototype VR headset.

Meta (formerly Facebook) finally has details to share about its developments in VR hardware.

In a recent short video clip, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg showcased technologies for at least four VR headset prototypes the brand is currently working on that might translate into a consumer product later this year. The developments stand to improve on the current specs of the Oculus Quest 2 headset and offer a preview of where things are headed.

Read more
Doing work in VR never made sense, and now we know why
An office meeting happening in the VR Metaverse.

Despite Mark Zuckerberg's utopian vision for an immersive metaverse where you live and work, the latter is probably not happening anytime soon -- at least, according to a new study from investigators in Germany.

First reported by PC Gamer, researchers based out of Coburg University conducted an experiment in which 16 people worked completely in VR for a week. The participants used Meta Quest 2 VR headsets combined with a Logitech K830 keyboard and Chrome Remote Desktop. This was done to make it a more realistic scenario of what people can afford today.

Read more
The Kat Walk C2 looks to be the ultimate VR treadmill
Kat VR C2 VR treadmill.

As virtual reality becomes more commonplace, we'll need ways of moving in a virtual world without accidentally crashing into our furniture. Kat VR is hoping it's up to the challenge via the second-generation of its Kat Walk C VR treadmill.

Originally reported by Road to VR, the Kat Walk C2 is basically an omnidirectional treadmill that allows the user to "freely" move about a virtual environment as naturally as real life. This includes walking, jogging, sprinting, dodging, jumping, kneeling, and other actions you may perform in a game.

Read more