VR tech studio secures six-figure investment

Cooperative Innovations, the Leeds-based immersive technologies studio, has closed a seed funding round of over £500k.

The funding has been raised from a number of sources, including angel investor Craig Fletcher, Ascension Ventures and Trend Investment Group.

The studio will use the financial boost to grow its workforce and launch a pilot licensing programme for Ikabod, the first of its tools and technologies that will be available.

Cooperative Innovations will also expand its ongoing research and development into immersive technologies, and continue development of its original MMORPG VR game, Raiders of Erda, and another unannounced multiplayer VR/AR title.

The studio is now actively seeking selected licensing partners for Ikabod. The technology has a wide range of animation uses but has been used primarily by the studio to enable developers to accurately reflect the player’s real-world physicality on to a VR avatar.

Simon Barratt, CEO and co-founder, said: “Securing this investment really allows us to scale-up the studio and continue to build on our core technologies and tools. We’re passionate about immersive experiences as the future of work, life and play, and we’re excited about the opportunity to grow the team, continue our R&D, and release some of our original IP too!”

Brian Marshall, CTO and co-founder, added: “Ikabod came about as we needed a full IK solution that was fast enough to use on every character, while embracing easy-of-use and artistic expression. Nothing available did everything we needed, so we made it ourselves. We can’t wait to get Ikabod into the hands of more developers and creatives.

“Being able to now launch this pilot licensing programme, we’re able to really push the system in-the-wild, and continue to improve it into the future. We look forward to hearing from any developers interested in a demo.”