Limitless Ltd. has announced a first round of seed funding from multiple investors. Created by Pixar and Bungie alum Tom Sanocki, Limitless launched last month with a new virtual reality (VR) platform that enables content developers to create interactive VR characters that respond to voice, gestures, gaze and more. A well received showcase piece for the technology, Gary the Gull, was premiered at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco, in March of this year.
Gary the Gull is an interactive VR short film produced by Motional and directed by Mark Walsh, Motional’s founder and creative director with 18 years as an animator and writer-director at Pixar. Limitless has new projects underway with leading animation, videogame, and film studios in the US and abroad. The new funding will be used to build the next stage of the Limitless platform and to deploy its current interactive VR character technology.
The technology is being targeted to film and game developers initially, as well as other vertical markets including education, advertising and travel.
“We believe fundraising is about finding good partners, and we are very excited at the great people we have in our seed round,” said Tom Sanocki, founder and CEO of Limitless. “We are working with the leading VR funds, a combination of US and international tech VCs, game-focused investors, and experienced angels. The incredible response to our first customer’s project, Gary the Gull, at this year’s GDC conference increased interest in our platform and helped us attract new investors and customers. Consumer VR is just beginning and we are excited to power the next wave of compelling VR content into people’s homes and imaginations.”
The seed round includes GAEA, The Venture Reality Fund, Colopl VR Fund, Social Starts, CRCM Venture Capital, Sparkland Capital, Mission and Market, Nick Rau (SVP Engineering at Nielsen, CTO of acquired startup Vizu), Jay Rifkin (CEO OceanView Media), and Masi Oka (CEO Mobius Digital, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor, former digital effects artist at ILM).
Marco DeMiroz, general partner, The Venture Reality Fund, said: “We have been big advocates for both Tom and Limitless, and we’re proud to invest in his vision to build a platform for the creation and publishing of immersive characters in VR. Emotional engagement with characters is crucial for an immersive experience and storytelling of all kinds. The extensive creative background of Tom and his team at both Pixar and Bungie gives them a unique perspective on what game designers and storytellers need to create intelligent and immersive characters in this new medium. We’re excited for what they will do next!”
The full amount of funding raised has not yet been disclosed. However, Gary the Gull has already been confirmed for consumer release on a number of formats, including PlayStation VR, and is likely to be the first of a number of projects made available directly to consumers. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on Gary the Gull, the Limitless platform and further products from Limitless Ltd.
