US-based virtual reality headset developer Fove secured $11m yesterday in a series A round led by gaming company Colopl, which invested through its $50m Colopl VR Fund.
Samsung Venture Investment, the corporate venturing subsidiary of electronics producer Samsung, also participated in the round, as did contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai, which invested through an entity called 2020.
Fove is working on a headset that features eye and head position-tracking technology, as well as orientation sensing, which could help make control more precise and interaction in a VR environment more natural.
Yuka Kojima, co-founder and CEO of Fove, said: “Taking the VR experience one step further, we are thrilled to have the support of Colopl, Hon Hai and Samsung. This will help us achieve our goal of creating a more pleasing VR experience that will have a lasting impact on the growing number of users interested in eye-tracking technology.”
Fove did not disclose whether Samsung Ventures’ investment was the same as the undisclosed amount of funding the unit provided for Fove in June 2015, shortly before it closed a Kickstarter campaign that raised $480,000.
The startup received $100,000 when it graduated from Rothenberg Ventures River Accelerator earlier in the year. It has also part of Microsoft Ventures Accelerator’s September 2014 London cohort.
– Image courtesy of Fove, Inc.