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€1m Investment in Irish Virtual Reality Company

Written by Robert McHugh, on 23rd Mar 2017. Posted in Technology

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It was announced today that Kernel Capital through the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Venture Funds and Suir Valley Ventures have led a €1M investment in Immersive VR Education Ltd, a developer of VR (virtual reality) software and immersive experiences with a specific focus on Education.  Enterprise Ireland also participated in the round. 

A spin-out from WIT's research-based Telecoms Software and Systems Group (TSSG), IVRE’s platform provides virtual reality content that can be used in schools, colleges, universities, research centres and corporate training to teach any subject in a virtual environment allowing students to fully immerse themselves in the experience, making hard to visualise concepts easy to understand. 

The founding husband and wife team David and Sandra Whelan have succeeded in attracting high calibre VR talent from around the world and currently employ 20 at their offices in Waterford. This investment will enable IVRE to accelerate its growth plans. The Company is currently collaborating with Oxford University and the Royal College of Surgeons to develop VR-based training programmes for medical professionals. 

Last month, the Company took home two HTC Viveport Developer Awards adding to their 5 other international awards. IVRE won awards for their Engage Platform and Apollo 11 VR, which uses archive footage and audio from NASA to relive the historical moon landing of 1969.  Apollo 11 launched in April 2016, with initial sales of 50,000+ copies on the Oculus and Steam stores.

Speaking today, CEO of Immersive VR Education Ltd, David Whelan said, "This investment from Kernel Capital and Suir Valley Ventures will allow us as a company to continue to grow, continue to hire and expand beyond our current capabilities. Virtual reality is such an exciting, new and emerging industry with many new opportunities. It’s great to work with such an established institution such as Kernel Capital with their proven track record of bringing early stage companies to fruition." 

Director of Corporate Banking Ireland & UK, Donal Duffy added, "Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are key themes for Bank of Ireland Innovation activities in 2017, along with blockchain, Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence. Immersive VR Education links industry and academia by developing an extremely practical, visual experience delivered by sector experts. Bank of Ireland plays an active role with a number of educational institutions through funding, facilities and mentoring initiatives so this investment is particularly appropriate.”   

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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