Deepbridge leads on £5.4m investment in vTime
12 April 2018
Deepbridge Capital, the tax-efficient investment manager, has today (11th April 2018) announced the closing of a £5.4m Series A funding round for vTime - a virtual reality (VR) sociable network that allows users to meet, chat, broadcast, and share with people all around the world
The Series A fundraising was led by Deepbridge, utilising its Technology Growth Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), and also included investment from Liverpool-based institutional loan and equity provider, MSIF.
vTime is a Liverpool-based company offering a VR, sociable network that allows anyone, anywhere to socialise with family and friends. It is already the most widely-available VR social network and the company has amassed almost a million downloads across six platforms since December 2015.
Users can experience a growing library of destinations and personalise their avatar as they chat with others in the virtual world. The vTime platform supports Windows Mixed Reality, Google Daydream, Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, Android and iPhone, with support for HTC Vive, PSVR, and others coming soon.
vTime CEO Martin Kenwright believes the Series A investment will accelerate global growth and product development, and fuel research and development for the brand’s augmented reality (AR) experience, due to launch later in the year. He also outlined how vTime continues to grow through a recruitment drive to bolster the core development and management teams of over 40 people in both its UK Liverpool headquarters and in the USA.
Kenwright said: “vTime offers users the most immersive and intuitive way to engage with others in VR from wherever they are. The advent of consumer AR at scale is allowing us to use decades of expertise to develop another unique way to connect and engage with friends and family in alternate realities. Crucially, Deepbridge share our vision for the future – both in delivering a matchless social XR experience and our expansive plans to monetise and build upon the vTime framework with future technologies.”
Ian Warwick, Managing Partner at Deepbridge, commented: “vTime perfectly represents the innovative and disruptive technologies that we at Deepbridge provide investment for. We are incredibly pleased to be working in partnership with the vTime management team and are excited by the future opportunities for vTime’s market-leading virtual reality and augmented reality technologies.”
Simon Thelwall-Jones, MSIF Investment Director, added: “We’re really pleased to have been able to play a part in this round of investment for vTime. It’s great to be able to assist and support a genuinely world-class business based in the Liverpool City region.”
Deepbridge invests specifically in growth-focused technology and life sciences companies, utilising the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed EIS (SEIS).
For further information on vTime, please visit: www.vTime.net
