In Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality News
July 29, 2020 – Polyarc, the studio behind the popular single player virtual reality (VR) puzzle game ‘Moss’, has today announced the close of USD $9 million in Series B funding, led by Hiro Capital, followed by Vulcan Capital, an existing investor, and Galaxy Interactive via its Galaxy EOS VC Fund, a partnership with EOSIO blockchain software publisher Block.one.
Leveraging its team’s experience of creating immersive VR games such as Moss, Polyarc has stated that it will now add augmented reality (AR) to its core business competencies. Furthermore, Ian Livingstone, a founding partner of Hiro Capital, will join the Polyarc Board of Directors.
“The thing we want people to remember about Polyarc in 40 years is our characters. Our means to make our characters the most memorable is to build a company oriented around introducing them directly to our players in person. VR, AR, and the spectrum in between, offer an opportunity to connect our players with our characters through physical interaction and emotional feedback in a way that no other medium can match,” said Tam Armstrong, CEO and co-founder, Polyarc. “This round of funding was essential for us to expand our development focus to further embrace VR and AR games.”
This is the second round of funding that the company has received, as Polyarc raised USD $3.5 million in 2016 to fund the development of Moss, which now ranks as one of the top-rated VR games of all time and has received several industry awards and nominations from organizations such as BAFTA, The Game Awards, E3 Game Critics, D.I.C.E., GDC, Golden Joystick, and the Annie Awards, according to the company.
Ian Livingstone, founding Partner at Hiro Capital, said: “Polyarc is a proven leader in developing innovative VR interactive entertainment, and Moss is their amazing game which showcases the beauty and possibilities of what the VR platform can deliver. Hiro Capital is delighted to invest in Polyarc to help accelerate the studio’s future development of mixed reality experiences.”
Hiro Capital launched a EUR €100 million Fund in 2019 to back deep technology entrepreneurs and creative studios in games, esports, and digital sports, as well as sector-specific applications of Cloud, Mobile, Streaming, Big Data, AI, Wearables, and AR and VR technologies. Hiro Capital’s investment in Polyarc adds to its growing portfolio.
“We are excited to be partnering with Polyarc to push Mixed Reality to the next level. They are a super-smart, passionate team who combine creative brilliance with business vision. Hiro invests in strong character-led IP on next-generation cross-platform tech: we believe that Polyarc will be a leader in the next generation of Immersive entertainment.” said Luke Alvarez, Managing Partner of Hiro.
For information on Polyarc, please visit the company’s website. The company is also currently hiring for several positions.
Image credit: Polyarc / Hiro Capital
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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.