Alpha Animation, Matrix invest in China VR start-up
Guangdong Alpha Animation and Culture, a listed Chinese animation firm, has led an undisclosed Series A round of funding for Time of Virtual Reality (TVR), which develops games for VR devices.
Matrix Partners China also participated in the round. The new investment will be used to support the development of new content and advanced VR technology.
VR technology has become popular as major smart phone players including Samsung, Sony and HTC prepare to launch their first consumer-grade VR headsets this year, with self-developed operating systems. TVR is one of few players in China to develop games that could run on these platforms.
TVR's co-founder Xiangyuan Fang told local media that Alpha Animation has ambitions to develop VR technology, devices and content. TVR in turn wants to leverage Alpha Animation's existing resources for the advancement of its technology. Alpha Animation has already invested in several VR specialists, including Beijing Noitom, VR DeePoon and Ling Long Group.
The VR market is estimated to reach $80 billion globally by 2025, according to Goldman Sachs, comprising $45 billion in hardware revenue and $35 billion in software by them. By comparison, the current market for notebooks is at $111 billion and the video game market is worth $14 billion.
Earlier this month, Alibaba Group has led a $793.5 million Series C round for Magic Leap, a Florida-based VR technology developer. The round gave Magic Leap a post-money valuation of $4.5 billion, although it has yet to release a product.
In addition, Chinese media-focused PE firm CMC Capital Partners participated in a Series C round for US-based Jaunt, while last month CITIC Capital led a RMB230 million ($35 million) round for Baofeng Mojing, or Baofeng Magic Mirror, a Chinese VR headset manufacturer.
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