HTC VIVE Announces Fourth Batch of Companies Selected for Vive X Accelerator program

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- VIVE X, HTC VIVE's™ global AR/VR accelerator today announced the next group of companies selected to join the prominent program. Eighteen new start-ups from across the world will join Vive X programs in the San Francisco, London, Taipei, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Tel Aviv offices.

Vive X has proven to be one of the most consistent and active investors in the AR/VR space, funding approximately one hundred companies since its inception in July 2016. As the AR/VR industry continues to cement itself as a mainstream technology, Vive X has curated a diverse portfolio of hardware and software companies focusing on a range of different verticals.  Round four of the program houses an increased emphasis on enterprise VR technology as the market is forecasted to reach revenue levels of $12.6 billion annually by 2025 according to Tractica. With this new focus, Vive X has invested in a class of companies that are building enterprise solutions such as training simulators, location-based entertainment models, and data visualization tools.

"As we head into our fourth batch of Vive X companies, we're looking toward mass market drivers in the consumer space, but also placing a large emphasis on how companies integrate VR into their work," said Marc Metis, Vice President, HTC VIVE. "We have selected companies in this batch that will help deliver on that promise and elevate the enterprise experience by developing toolsets that train employees, increase workplace safety, and improve collaboration and customer acquisition."

Vive X's mission is to help cultivate, foster and grow the global VR ecosystem by supporting startups and providing them with operational expertise and funding. In addition to equity investment, Vive X helps participating companies by providing support in key areas including strategy, business development, engineering and marketing so they can accelerate their traction by leveraging HTC VIVE's operational capabilities.

If you're interested in more information, please go to: https://vivex.vive.com.

The companies in Vive X Batch 4 include:

San Francisco -

• Visby builds foundational holographic imaging software that puts the real in extended reality. Visby's light field technology allows film and video professionals to capture and publish photorealistic video for immersive and holographic displays.
• Primitive believes that collaboration and immersive visualization are the future of software development. The Primitive programming interface turns complex software analyses into interactive 3D structures that are displayed in immersive VR.
• Modal was inspired by co-founder Nolan Bushnell's success with Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's, Modal brings social, fun and active free-roam location-based VR entertainment to a mass audience.
• ybVR's multi-viewpoint optimized streaming technology powers immersive live broadcasting and on-demand video content in 8K resolution.
• MyndVR - MyndVR is a national health and wellness company providing Virtual Reality solutions to Assisted Living, CCRCs, Veterans homes, 55+ living communities and home-health care providers.

London -

• Immersive Factory has developed virtual reality HSE (Health Safety & Environment) training exercises based on real-life situations. All training courses, available on a dedicated platform, have been created in partnership with key account customers including Veolia, EDF, Colas, and Suez.
• LIV LIV empowers VR live streamers to better connect and monetize their audiences in real-time. The company has generated over half a billion streams of VR on social media since April 2018 and boasts the largest VR content creator community in the world.
• Kagenova is developing core technologies to engineer interactive realism at scale for next-generation immersive experiences. Their first product, KageMove, allows any 360 media to be viewed with six degrees of freedom (6DOF).

Taipei -

• 360Stories uses immersive 360º footage to transport you to the most amazing destinations on Earth. Hear locals tell their story as they show you around their urban and natural landscapes in virtual reality. No amount of research online will truly represent the feeling of actually traveling, but surrounding yourself in 360Stories gets pretty close!
• Z-Emotion is building a fully connected 3D design platform for the apparel, knitwear and sportswear industry for the future of digital supply chain. Furthermore it provides predictive big data analytics to entire manufacturing process and enables smarter, faster and more effective decisions.
• Pumpkin Studio creates AAA LBE VR game content in Unreal Engine 4. Partnering with HTC, SEGA, Smilegate and others. Our goal is to combine our knowledge of LBE to build VR games that suits the needs of all different operators.

Shenzhen –

• Inload Inload excels in VR Kiosk design, manufacturing and operation. The company has an in-house R&D lab, VR game studio, hardware production base and brand operation team. Its VR Kiosk business model has been expanding rapidly in many shopping malls in Shenzhen, generating positive cashflow, and is soon to be replicated across the country.
• Yaoan - With 20 years of industrial experience in enterprise software, YaoAn has launched VR security experience hall, VR immersive training system, VR emergency drill system, security training cloud platform and other industry solutions, and has emerged to be a leader in domestic security education and training.

Bejing -

• ifGames is one of the first VR game studios in China. It produced China's 1st VR large area game title "Ark of the Stars" and won numerous awards including the Chin VR and Gyro VR game of the year. ifgames' first fullbody tracking VR title "CyberCraft" is highly acclaimed by critics and is already launched in major cities in China.
• ShinyVR was incubated in the National Defense Lab of Yanshan University, developing a molecular-level physical simulation engine SYVR, simulating key components of C919 (the first large commercial aircraft of China). The SYVR engine provides real-time simulation of large-scale complex scenarios, experiments, training and conceptual design visualization.
• Yuanji has developed a VR Judicial Visualization system enabling crime scene restoration for evidence to be presented directly and transparently. The system speeds up trial process and promotes social fairness and justice through science and technology empowerment.

Tel Aviv

• Sixdof.space created a new tracking system technology that represents a breakthrough in both speed and accuracy. They combine optics, electronics and algorithms to offer a device urgently needed for current product development in multiple industries, beginning with VR.
• Ayayu Games develops, creates and manufactures patent pending VR-action controllers, which enables players to control and play with their action figures in their VR games and immersive experiences.

About HTC VIVE

VIVE is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality platform, built an optimized for room-scale VR and true-to-life interactions.  Delivering on the promise of VR with game-changing technology and best-in-class content, Vive has created the strongest ecosystem for VR hardware and software, bringing VR to consumers, developers and enterprises alike. The Vive ecosystem is built around the best VR hardware in market, supported by Vive X, a $100 million accelerator for VR and related technology start-ups, Viveport, a global platform and app store for VR that operates in more than 30 countries, and Vive Studios, its VR content development and publishing initiative.

For more information on Vive, please visit https://www.vive.com.

HTC, the HTC logo are the trademarks of HTC Corporation. All other names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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SOURCE HTC