LA-based VR company Tyffon may be ready to take on the likes of The Void with its latest round of investment.
The company just raised $7.8 million in Series A funding, Variety reports. The round was led by Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) but previous investors include SEGA SAMMY Holdings and The Walt Disney Company. It brings the company’s total amount raised to $12 million. Other investors include Mizuho Capital, Tokyu Recreation, and Canal Ventures.
Tyffon specializes in location-based VR experiences it calls ‘Immersive VR Theme Parks’. It was born out of a 2014 Disney Accelerator program. Its location-based VR solution is called Tyffonium and consists of Vive headsets. Users wear backpack PCs and explore one of three VR experiences. Current experiences include a VR horror experience called Corridor, a fantasy attraction named Fluctus and a tarot card piece called Tarot VR: Voyage of Reverie.
Tyffon also developed two AR experiences available on smartphones.
Currently the company operations in two locations in Tokyo, Japan. However, Tyffon plans to expand on an international scale with this funding round. Plans include a new center in Santa Monica, California and a third in Japan. CEO Ken Fukazawa also told Variety they the company will “accelerator IP licensing activities with major Hollywood studios.” New mobile experiences are also in the works.
Tyffon isn’t the only location-based VR company that Disney is backing. The company also supports The Void, which has produced VR experiences based on Star Wars and Wreck-It-Ralph. Perhaps with its current back we might see more Disney VR experiences out of Tyffon?
