Cinema chain AMC Entertainment has agreed to provide $10m for US-based virtual reality technology and content developer Dreamscape Immersive as part of $20m series B round it is raising.
Dreamscape had secured $6.7m from nine investors as of last week, according to a regulatory filing, but it has not revealed details of their identities.
Founded in January 2017, Dreamscape Immersive is developing a location-based VR product that uses body-mapping technologies to create a full-body virtual presence for a user, allowing them to interact with up to six others in real time.
The company is working on the first dedicated content for its system, and is discussing licensing deals with entertainment studios and other intellectual property holders.
In addition to leading the series B round, AMC has committed $10m to a content fund, the details of which were not revealed. A strategic partnership agreement will also involve AMC financing up to six Dreamscape Immersive VR centres in North America and the UK over the next 18 months.
Bruce Vaughn, chief executive of Dreamscape Immersive, said: “We look forward to working with AMC to offer audiences the opportunity to actually step into and experience imaginative worlds previously only available through watching movies.”
Entertainment producers 21st Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Myers and Warner Bros took part in Dreamscape’s last round, an $11m series A in January 2017.
The series A round, which was led by venture capital firm Bold Capital Partners, also featured cinema technology provider Imax, retail property developer Westfield and talent agency UTA’s investment arm, UTA Ventures.