Ready, set, mass adoption? Virtual Reality full steam ahead

4 May 2018

In today’s world, Virtual Reality is something you can’t escape. For a long time, we siloed experiences such as VR to gaming, however now everyday people are engaging with VR in their everyday lives. In gaming, travel, real estate and healthcare we are seeing the introduction and revolutionising of VR technologies and before too long, we can expect to see mass adoption.

 

Last week leading Virtual Reality game developer Immotion Group received an additional £500,000 in investment from Venture Capital fund Sure Ventures. Immotion create superior out of home immersive VR experiences and will use the £500,000 funds raised to fast-track the roll-out of its product worldwide and create new content. Immotion Group will next month open their first VR gaming arcade just outside of London.

This week, the momentum for VR continues to strive forward with £20mil in fundraising by EVR Holdings. EVR are one of the leading creators in virtual reality content and the holding company of Melody VR. Melody VR officially launched this week at Facebook’s F8 conference and gives users an immersive music experience, allowing fans to watch performances on their VR headsets with content created from previous live performances, sold-out concerts, festivals and special events. Singer Adele is even said to have invested in the company and EVR has already secured partnerships within the industry with Warner Music, Sony Music and Universal Music.

EVR has already raised £70mil to date and the additional funding will be used to further their global expansion outside of the UK and the US. Speaking about the placing, Anthony Matchett, Executive Chairman and CEO of EVR said, “As we move forward, we are confident that a global roll-out of the Melody VR platform will not only serve to supplement and increase the company’s potential revenue generation capabilities but will also serve to increase content consumption, brand awareness and IP value overall.”  EVR is also set to explore additional immersive technologies outside of VR, such as interactive advertising and augmented reality.

In a further nod to VR, earlier this week UK based VR Education’s multi award winning educational experience Apollo 11 was announced as part of the launch collection of the new Oculus Go; the Facebook owned VR headset.  The all new design with built in speakers, optimised graphics and overall superior quality of the Oculus Go, in addition to its attractive £199 RRP is set to accelerate the introduction of immersive VR experiences into homes and lives of people around the world.

Gareth Burchell, Head of Stockbroking at Shard Capital and appointed broker for VR Education commented, “This week’s announcement is amazing recognition to the superior educational experiences VR Education are creating and introducing at all levels.”

The VR Education Apollo 11 announcement reacted very well on the day with the share price hitting a high of 18.9p (Tuesday 2 May) and closing 35% up on the day. VR Education has a market cap of £28mil after its March 12 (2018) listing on the LSE.

 

For more information on Shard Capital or Sure Ventures, please contact us.