Participated · Equity · Aug 2021

Thirdverse is an XR game studio that plans, develops, sells, and operates XR games for global markets. The company states a vision of creating a new virtual world used by one billion people and has offices in Tokyo and San Francisco. Thirdverse was founded on May 1, 2023, and is headquartered in Nakano, Tokyo. It recently announced a social VR title with Sanrio, "Hello Kitty Skyland," and plans further large Japanese IP social VR expansions. The studio intends to leverage industry networks and celebrity and Hollywood collaborations as part of its international push. The company completed a ¥200 million financing to support these product and IP expansion plans. Thirdverse develops multiplayer VR games and is focused on combining virtual reality with blockchain technologies. The company aims to build a virtual reality world where anyone can create online communities. Its notable titles include Swords of Gargantua and Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds. Thirdverse concentrates on the production and development of VR game content and multiplayer experiences. Recently the company secured outside capital through a strategic investment. The funding underscores ongoing efforts to expand its VR and blockchain ambitions. Thirdverse is a VR game developer focused on multiplayer experiences and the production of VR titles. The company aims to combine virtual reality with blockchain and to build a virtual reality world where anyone can create online communities. Thirdverse is dedicated to the creation and development of VR games and experiences. Its notable titles include Swords of Gargantua and Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds. The company recently completed new financing to support its continued development and product roadmap. No operating metrics or founding year were disclosed in the article. Thirdverse develops virtual reality games, including Swords of Gargantua, and is building multiplayer VR experiences that integrate gaming, blockchain and NFTs. The company employs about 60 people and is focused on creating a ‘‘third place’’ in the metaverse where players can socialize and play. It has two VR titles in development and plans to use recent funding to bring those games to market. Thirdverse emphasizes NFTs and blockchain as ways to enable in-game economies and cross-game ownership of digital items. The company has seen renewed traction since the launch of lower-cost wireless headsets such as Oculus Quest 2, which boosted sales of Swords of Gargantua. Leadership is being reinforced by Hironao Kunimitsu, who recently left Gumi to lead Thirdverse full time and accelerate its metaverse strategy. Thirdverse is a Tokyo-based studio building multiplayer virtual reality games, best known for Swords of Gargantua. The company relaunched as Thirdverse in June after starting four years earlier as Yomuneco, aligning around a mission to build a “Third Place inside the Metaverse.” Its current product focus is multiplayer VR games, while its longer-term plan is to combine VR with blockchain to create VR worlds and online communities. Thirdverse has seen sales and active users increase since late March, with most current users located in America and many using Oculus Quest headsets. The company is preparing to release Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds, a multiplayer shooter due later this year for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Valve Index. Funding will be used for hiring, according to co-founder Masaru Ohnogi.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2019

Proprio builds Paradigm, a real-time surgery guidance device that maps pre-operative scans to a live 3D representation and shows surgeons sub-millimeter guidance during spinal procedures. The system’s Prism imaging array combines multiple RGB cameras, infrared stereo cameras and a dedicated depth sensor to continuously register vertebrae without physical markers. Proprio received FDA 510(k) clearance for stereotaxic navigation for spine surgery and plans to commercialize by deploying the platform in operating rooms and taking on first in-human cases this summer at partnering hospitals. Commercial rollout will require scaled manufacturing, testing, training and field support. Beyond spine surgery the company sees applications in other difficult procedures (for example joint reconstruction) and anticipates a data opportunity to collect high-fidelity surgical recordings for training, outcome analysis and retrospective review. The company announced $43 million in new funding and maintains an office in Seattle where the team and co-founders including CEO Gabriel Jones and CMO Dr. Samuel Browd are based. Proprio develops a computational imaging system that provides enhanced visualization to enable precise surgical execution. The platform integrates robotics, artificial intelligence and computer vision to simplify surgical workflow, improve procedural accuracy and reduce or eliminate exposure to radiation. Proprio’s system is intended to increase surgical productivity while improving precision. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its development teams, accelerate clinical and regulatory timelines, build commercialization capabilities and install the first Proprio systems in leading institutions. Leadership additions and technical advisors have been added to support commercialization and product development, including hires with expertise in regulatory affairs and operations and advisors from Microsoft and academia. The co‑founders and leadership team include CEO Gabriel Jones, Ken Denman, Dr. Joshua Smith, Head of Engineering James Youngquist and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Samuel Browd. Proprio Vision develops a light-field platform that captures real-time volumetric video, enabling surgeons to change viewpoints in immersive, accurate 3D. The system couples light-field arrays with software similar to a powerful video-game engine and is designed to work with existing medical imaging such as MRIs and CT scans. Immediate use cases include teaching via playback from different angles, surgical planning and remote collaboration, and the company aspires to supplant tools like surgical microscopes and fluoroscopy. Proprio emerged from stealth in Seattle and started as a secretive operation at the University of Washington; it has clinical research partnerships with Seattle Children’s and UW Medicine. The startup has 10 employees, plans to double headcount this year and hire AR/VR specialists, and is opening a workspace in Seattle’s Lower Queen Anne neighborhood. Proprio positions itself against incumbents such as Intuitive Surgical and emphasizes improving surgeon user experience through AR/VR and computer vision.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2018

Camera IQ is a Los Angeles-based augmented-reality platform for camera marketing that helps brand marketers design and deploy AR campaigns. Its platform enables marketers to create, manage and measure scalable AR campaigns reaching audiences across social media and streaming platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch and Zoom. Led by co-founder and CEO Allison Ferenci, the company has launched tools aimed at driving business objectives through camera-based experiences. In September 2020 it raised an additional $5m in Series A funding, bringing total capital raised to over $14m. Camera IQ plans to use the funds to make key hires in sales and marketing and to accelerate product development. A stated priority is expanding distribution to new platforms to broaden reach for brand campaigns. Camera IQ is a camera experience manager that helps digital marketers create immersive camera-based marketing experiences. Led by CEO Allison Wood and new Chief Product Officer Per Nielsen, the company develops tools for marketers to build camera experiences. The company is based in Santa Monica, CA. Camera IQ closed a $4.3M seed round that included an additional $2M, providing fresh capital for growth. It will use the funds to build out product offerings and to grow its team of camera marketing experts. Investors in the round included Betaworks, Homebrew, WndrCo, Shasta Ventures, Presence Capital, Brilliant Ventures, Greycroft Tracker Fund, Silicon Valley Bank, Act One and Noname Ventures. Camera IQ positions itself as the first camera experience manager, helping digital marketers create new worlds for customers to explore. Its technology integrates OS platforms, AR toolkits and native apps into a single fabric to enable brands to deliver captivating experiences at scale. The company frames camera marketing at the intersection of experience design and spatial analytics. Camera IQ is based in Santa Monica, CA. The article reports that the company has raised a $2.3 million seed round led by Shasta Ventures, reflecting its current reported financing.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2017

Fyusion develops an immersive 3D imaging platform that combines computer vision and machine learning to create interactive 3D images (Fyuses) from any camera or smartphone. Its technology captures high-definition images that can be processed in about 60 seconds and presented across mobile, desktop, AR and VR hardware. The company holds nearly 80 patents and has commercialized use cases in automotive (damage analysis, AR/VR extraction) and is expanding into fashion and e-commerce. Fyusion reports around 150 million users of its products globally. The business has raised close to $70 million to date and is backed by prominent Silicon Valley investors and global corporate partners. Fyusion’s platform is positioned to drive higher e-commerce engagement and sales by enabling 360-degree interactive product viewing. Fyusion develops technology that enables 3D capture with any camera to produce interactive images called ‘fyuses’ that users can tilt or swipe to view in up to 360 degrees. Its core stack combines computer vision and machine learning and is covered by more than 50 patents. Fyuses are optimized for small file sizes similar to a high-quality JPEG while remaining immersive and interactive across web, mobile, VR, AR and mixed reality platforms. The company has commercial partnerships with Cox Automotive and its Manheim brand to deliver enhanced merchandising for Manheim Express and wholesale services. Fyusion and Manheim plan future innovations that will add more artificial intelligence and improve objectivity in condition reports. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Radu Rusu and is based in San Francisco, CA. Financially, Fyusion announced a new $30M funding round and had previously raised $40M. Fyusion builds 3D computer-vision and machine-learning technology that lets users create immersive, interactive 3D images (“fyuses”) by moving a camera around a person, object or scene. Its core stack is covered by over 50 patents and is underpinned by a large, monthly-updated database of real-world 3D images from OEM partnerships. The company targets three verticals: mobile OEM (chipset-level mobile AR platforms with a first launch planned for Q1 2018), automotive imaging (a Car Capture App/SDK for 360° 4K captures and inspection workflows), and e-commerce imaging (studio and lifestyle 3D capture with Turntable Mode and automatic tagging). Fyusion reports more than 15 million Weekly Active Users and about 2.5 billion tilts (user-triggered view events) per week on its platform. OEM partners named in the articles include Gionee, Huawei, TCL and ZTE, and commercial partners or customers include Cox Automotive, Gulliver and DoneDeal. The company has been recognized by Walmart and Accenture for retail innovation. Fyusion has raised a total of $38 million since its 2014 inception and is based in San Francisco. Fyusion develops surround-view digital technology and a mobile photo app platform that lets users navigate beyond fixed angles and experience images from multiple perspectives. Its first application, Fyuse, is a mobile photo social app available for iOS and Android. Fyuse has been adopted by musicians (including Katy Perry, J*Davey, and Kittens), fashion designers (Kerby Jean‑Raymond and Camelia Skikos), and several brands across e-commerce, fashion and automobile industries. The company is led by CEO and co‑founder Dr. Radu B. Rusu. Fyusion intends to continue developing its user experience and to broaden its audience. Fyusion develops patent-pending 3D image-processing technologies and a 3D modeling platform that capture space via visual graph structures called "Spatial Photographs." Its consumer product, Fyuse, is a mobile iOS app that lets users create and share immersive Spatial Photographs by moving a camera through a scene. The company licenses its technologies and platform to players in the mobile and wearable device sectors. Fyusion intends to use recent funding to continue adding features and capabilities to the Fyuse app. The company was founded in 2013 by Dr. Radu B. Rusu (CEO), Stefan J.J. Holzer (CTO) and Stephen D. Miller (VP Engineering).

Participated · Equity · Nov 2017

Lightform builds a projector-mounted computer that captures structured light to scan room geometry and place animations and stills onto objects and surfaces. The device plugs into the back of most projectors and is paired with Lightform Creator desktop software for editing how projections interact with spaces. Early use cases are aesthetic-first and aimed at "designers who design spaces," and the tech is already being used to display a menu at a San Francisco cafe. The company is alpha-testing with partners, beginning manufacturing of the first 2,000 units and hoping to ship the device for under $1,000. Lightform has raised funding to support product finalization and manufacturing; the company has raised $7.8 million to date. The team plans to open pre-orders next year once production and product finalization are complete. Lightform builds a computer and 3D scanning device that, when connected to a video projector, quickly scans complex scenes and turns objects into projection-mapped screens. Its core technology is projection mapping, a form of augmented reality. The device is positioned for use across film, art, education, cultural exhibits, events, signage, home entertainment, weddings, seasonal decor, theater, dance, and more. The company emerged from stealth alongside a $2.6M seed funding announcement. The seed round was led by Lux Capital and Seven Seas Partners, with participation from angel investors and the National Science Foundation. Lightform is led by co-founder & CEO Brett Jones and Design Director Phil Reyneri and is based in San Francisco, California.