Indie developer Owlchemy Labs is probably one of the better known virtual reality (VR) studios, due to its highly profiled Job Simulator title being one of the HTC Vive’s bundled videogames its given the team a lot of exposure. Now Owlchemy Labs has announced the completion of a Series A funding round netting the studio $5million USD.
The financing round was led by Qualcomm Incorporated, through its venture investment group, Qualcomm Ventures, whilst also being joined by HTC, The VR Fund, Colopl Next, Capital Factory, and other Austin technology investors.
The studio has said the investment will be used to grow its content development teams, create original VR software, and build technology that pushes the limits of VR across multiple platforms.
“VR has been a deep passion of ours for many years and being at the forefront of designing new virtual worlds is truly a dream for our whole team,” says Owlchemy Labs CEO Alex Schwartz. “We’ve solved some of the toughest design and development challenges in this new medium, and with this investment we’ll apply these lessons to a portfolio of full games.”
“Qualcomm Ventures has made significant investments in early stage frontier technologies, such as virtual reality, and is continuously looking to identify category leaders in this space,” said Richard Tapalaga, senior investment manager, Qualcomm Ventures. “We believe that Owlchemy has proven their ability to stand at the forefront of the VR movement with their innovative approach to developing leading VR experiences, and we look forward to working with Owlchemy as they continue to lead the way in developing original content and compelling VR technologies and solutions.”
Currently Owlchemy Labs continues to expand Job Simulator with new content and performance improvements. The studio also recently announced a partnership with Adult Swim to make a VR version of animated series Rick and Morty, with a demo recently showcased at San Diego Comic-Con 2016.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Owlchemy Labs, reporting back with any new announcements.
