Sandbox VR, a US-based virtual reality technology developer backed by e-commerce group Alibaba, has raised $11m in funding, TechCrunch has reported.
The round was co-led by Andreesen Horowitz’s Cultural Leadership Fund and David Sacks, and included fellow angel investors Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Will Smith, Michael Ovitz, Honda Keisuke and Kevin Durant.
Founded in 2016, Sandbox provides virtual reality games located in sizeable physical spaces such as shopping centres, allowing users to freely roam large environments and undertake tasks such as fighting zombies.
The company’s partnerships include an agreement with media firm CBS Interactive Studios to develop a game based on the Star Trek franchise.
Sandbox has not specified how it intends to spend the funding but noted that having backers from the music and film industries would help its branding efforts. It also hopes to increase its presence from six locations to 16 by the end of 2020.
The round follows $68m secured in a January 2019 series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz and backed by Alibaba, Stanford University, Floodgate, CRCM Ventures and TriplePoint Capital.
Image courtesy of Sandbox VR. The original version of this story appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.
