Venture Reality Fund secures $50m for early investments
"The best way to predict the future is to build it, the second best way is to fund it"
Marco DeMiroz and Tipatat Chennavasin have founded an early stage VR and AR investment fund to manage $50 million worth of venture capital for the nascent technology. The Venture Reality Fund will be supported by investment from Gumi, with CEO Hironao Kunimitsu taking a general and special limited partner role.
"At The VR Fund, we bring expert guidance and resources to promising and early stage VR, AR and MR startups," the fund's mission statement reads. "We seek innovative companies across a wide variety of sectors - from infrastructure and development tools to content and applications. We are eager to help entrepreneurs bring industry-defining technology to market faster, and to positively impact their growth path by providing the capital, insights and strategic relationships needed at this critical time.
"The best way to predict the future is to build it, the second best way is to fund it. We believe in the transformative powers of this new medium and want to help make VR, AR, and MR happen in the best way possible."
Both DeMiroz and Chennavasin have significant industry and VR experience. DeMiroz is an ex-MD of Evolution Media Partners, was the founder and CEO of PlayFirst, Inc and sits on the board of marketing specialist Swrve. Chennavasin sold his mobile company, Big Head Mode, to Playfirst in order to concentrate on VR development, as well as virtual reality video production.