The Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (VRVCA), spearheaded by HTC Vive, is making good on its promise to help kick start the VR industry having held its first meeting last week.
We’d previously reported that the group, which is comprised of 37 investment firms, moved its initial meeting from September 9th due to the large volume of submissions from startups looking for funding. Today, HTC Vive confirmed that the meeting took place in Beijing on September 20th and, from the sounds of it, was a success.
The majority of those investors and a total of 18 teams attended the inaugural meeting. 12 of those teams were from China and the rest from North America. Of these, 10 were selected from around 600 startups that applied to take part in the meeting via its official website. The other eight belonged to the first class of startups that had been selected in HTC Vive’s own Vive X accelerator, which promises companies access to potential investment. There were six gaming companies involved, three enterprise software groups, three making other types of content, and six working on hardware and new technologies.
In a press release, James Zhang, Executive Director of VRVCA member, Shanda Group, said a “few high-quality deals” had been struck. HTC declined to provide specifics for these deals or list exactly which startup companies were at the event. However, the release does make reference to a few companies including LA-based ObEN, which is developing speaking solutions for virtual characters, and Mindesk, which allows you to bring 3D CAD creations into VR.
Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of Vive, HTC, said that feedback had been “extremely positive” from all companies. “I would not be surprised if most of these firms close their new round of funding before the next VRVCA meeting in November,” he said.
That second meeting will be taking place toward the end of the month in San Francisco. Hopeful startups can apply now for a spot at the meeting, but given that only 18 of 600 applicants were selected this time round, chances of success are extremely limited. If you are successful, though, you’ll have the chance to pitch your company to a wide range of investors.
The VRVCA will alternate between these two cities when it meets every two months. HTC also confirmed that applications for Vive X’s second wave will open in November. Next year will also see the accelerator expand to more locations in Asia Pacific and Europe.
