Following on from the strategic licensing partnership that was announced in March, Immersive VR Education are pleased to announce that HTC have agreed to invest €3 million in the company.
HTC’s investment follows the success of the 2020 HTC VIVE Ecosystem Conference which was hosted on the ENGAGE platform in March 2020. The conference, which is usually held annually in Shenzhen, China, took place entirely in VR this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The investment will be used to further develop and enhance the company’s ENGAGE platform and build its sales and marketing capability, as well as the production of additional showcase experiences to support the uptake of the ENGAGE platform;
As part of this agreement, HTC will be able to appoint one non-executive director to the VRE board.
Alvin W. Graylin, HTC China President, said: “Earlier this year, we saw first-hand the kind of value we can deliver through ENGAGE by successfully hosting our annual VIVE Ecosystem Conference entirely in virtual reality. With the ongoing global pandemic, we recognise that now, more than ever, it is important to invest in and expand accessibility to XR technologies that enable human connection and maintain presence when we are all physically apart. Through this partnership, we believe we can offer an important service to large groups of people to learn, share and collaborate with their peers around the world.”
David Whelan, CEO of VR Education, said: “We are delighted to be strengthening our partnership with HTC as demonstrated by its subscription for new shares announced today. The Subscription will provide additional funding for the next stage of our development and allow us to progress the capabilities and commercialisation of our core ENGAGE platform at a time when industries across the globe are adapting to new and innovative ways of working.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is set to catalyse long-term changes in working practices, VRE and HTC’s combined offering provides a complete end-to-end service to alleviate the challenges posed by reduced travel due to health and climate change concerns. We look forward to this next stage of our development and continuing to work alongside HTC as a strategic partner and shareholder to provide these solutions for customers.”