China VCs in $20m round for VR developer uSens
Fosun Kinzon Capital, the VC arm of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, has led a $20 million Series A round for uSens, a US-based developer of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) tools.
Existing Chinese investor Maison Capital also participated in the round, along with new investors Great Capital, Fortune Capital, Oriental Fortune Capital and iResearch Capital. In addition, the ARM Innovation Ecosystem Accelerator contributed funding, and will provide more resources in the form of consulting and design services.
uSens primarily develops head and hand tracking tools for VR systems. Head tracking has been a major area of development in the VR sector, with hardware and software makers looking for ways to track head movements more accurately and thus create a more immersive experience. Hand tracking is intended to give users more natural-feeling ways to interact with virtual environments than the handheld controllers that are typically used.
"It's clear that ARVR is an explosive market. Already consumers want a more immersive experience, and hand controllers simply aren't the solution," said Fosun Kinzon chairman and president Donghui Pan in a statement. "We've chosen to invest in uSens because we're confident the company has the deepest expertise and vision to provide this key that will help unlock mass-market ARVR adoption."
A number of GPs have made investments in the VR space, with some raising funds specifically to target the sector, such as Gree and Colopl in Japan. In China, CMC Capital Partners last year participated in a $65 million funding round for VR tech developer Jaunt, and Taiwan-based hardware developer HTC launched an accelerator program for VR start-ups called Vive X based in Beijing, Taipei and San Francisco.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.