November 15, 2021 – HIKKY Co., Ltd., a Japan-based virtual reality (VR) startup that provides e-commerce and event hosting solutions for businesses, has today announced that it has raised JPY ¥6.5 billion (USD $57 million) in an initial stage of a Series A funding round. The company noted that it is considering additional funding as part of the round, and plans to maintain autonomy following it.
HIKKY stated that the capital raised will help expand the company’s VR services both domestically and abroad, as well as strengthen its organizational foundation. HIKKY’s services include the ‘Vket’ series of VR events, the ‘Vket Cloud’ browser-based VR engine that runs on smartphones and computers, and open metaverse development with Vket Cloud.
HIKKY’s own view of an open metaverse involves one where users can:
- Interact with each other beyond platform boundaries;
- Communicate and explore in an open world format;
- Deploy original content on their own domains;
- Access VR easily from any device with no app required.
“Here at HIKKY, we will accelerate our metaverse business with the help of communication infrastructure and global networks of NTT DOCOMO, INC. and NTT Group,” said Yasushi Funakoshi, HIKKY’s CEO. “We will continue to provide NTT DOCOMO with XR services, technologies, and content as per our strengths. We are extremely grateful to all the creators who have supported us, and to the visitors and companies who have taken part in Vket events.”
HIKKY develops its proprietary Vket Cloud VR engine, which is used to create metaverse content that users can access by clicking a URL, without requiring a dedicated computer or mobile application. The Vket Cloud platform also supports a multiplayer mode, where users can communicate in the same space using voice or text chat.
The startup also runs Vket, its large VR event series. According to the company, thousands of artists, many international corporate sponsors, and over a million users attend these events. HIKKY also received a Guinness World Record this year for “the most booths at a virtual reality market event”. The company hosted 1,104 virtual booths at its ‘Virtual Market 4’ event in February 2021.
For more information on HIKKY and its VR solutions for e-commerce and marketing events, please visit the company’s website.
Image credit: HIKKY Co., Ltd.
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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.