In Virtual Reality News
October 6, 2022 – SideQuest, a platform designed to enable Meta Quest users to enjoy virtual reality (VR) content and experiences that are not yet available on the Meta Quest Store, has this week confirmed that Google Ventures (GV) has led a USD $12 million Series A investment round in the platform.
The SideQuest platform has grown in popularity over the years, with many users of Meta’s standalone Quest headsets using it to access alternative titles that are otherwise not available directly from Meta’s own Quest store. Furthermore, SideQuest has acted as a proving ground for developers, allowing them to validate their VR content and kick start their communities.
The funding announcement, which was first reported by TechCrunch, will enable SideQuest to execute on its plans to aggressively expand and potentially double or triple its team, according to the company’s founders.
SideQuest was launched in 2019 by co-founders Shane and Orla Harris as a result of the difficulty they found in releasing software and tools for the VR headsets and hardware of the time.
Commenting on how SideQuest has positioned itself to peacefully coexist (so far) with Meta’s own VR app and gaming ecosystem, including Meta’s ‘App Lab’ platform for developers, Shane Harris told TechCrunch: “Our relationship with Meta has been interesting; we’ve generally stayed out of each others’ way. SideQuest has a huge amount of value to their headset… but we have no plans to monetize on the Quest platform, in order not to compete with them.”
Instead, SideQuest is looking at different paths toward monetizing its network of VR developers, according to TechCrunch. This includes building more developer tools and potentially rolling out a publishing fund to back titles on their store that show traction.
As part of the deal, GV’s M.G. Siegler will be joining the company’s board, according to a GV blog post.
Commenting on the funding announcement, Siegler said: “We feel the time is right, and the SideQuest team has potential to be a leader in this [VR] sector that finally feels primed for prime time. The company’s ultimate goal is to become a main hub and software layer for the broader XR ecosystem.”
Siegler added: “Despite the years of development and money spent, much still needs to be built and proven out in the worlds of VR, AR, and XR overall. But the existence of SideQuest, alongside all of the other incredible and accelerating software and hardware development going on in the space right now, with many likely key inflection points just around the corner, has us believing our eyes this time.”
For more information on SideQuest and its offering of alternative apps and games for the Quest platform, click here.
Image credit: SideQuest / GV
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About the author
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.