Looking to get your VR project off the ground? HTC might be able to help. The company has just announced a $100 million fund attached to the ‘Vive X’ accelerator program.
Announced at an HTC conference today in Beijing, Vive X is an accelerator created by HTC which the company says aims to “help cultivate, and grow the global VR ecosystem by supporting startups and providing them with expertise, special access to advanced VR technology, financial investment, mentorship and unmatched go-to-market support.”
The company has publicly announced a $100 million fund that will be used to make investments in promising VR companies that join the accelerator. This is one of the largest VR-dedicated investment funds to date. It’s 10 times the amount Oculus had set aside to support indie VR developers last year; where that pot was doled out in a way more traditional to the game industry, the Vive X accelerator takes a more startup-focused approach.
HTC is calling the program a “global accelerator,” and says it will begin intial operations in three cities: Beijing, Taipei, and San Francisco, “with a view to rolling out across other global hubs in the near future.”
Applications for Vive X are being accepted today for all three locations, though Beijing will open first in May as a pilot for the program.
A press release from HTC seems to indicate that Vive X will be mostly playing in the Seed and Series A investment stages.
“Vive X in Beijing is targeted at accelerating entrance and growth for companies with proven success in the VR industry, with each participating startup receiving cash investment in return for a small amount of equity. The program is open to companies from any industry that are creating content, tools, applications and accessories that enrich the VR ecosystem and end-user experience.”
At this point it’s unclear if HTC will be using the fund to create Vive-exclusive content agreements—similar to what we’ve seen from Oculus—though it does sound like they will only be considering companies who have something to offer to the Vive platform.
“Our goal is to support a healthy and vibrant ecosystem for the VIVE… ultimately helping the teams turn into valuable content producers or content enablers for the VIVE platform. We will try our best to avoid funding similar companies during each batch,” the company tells Road to VR.