Oculus Receives $75 Million Investment
Late last week, Oculus announced that they had received $75 million in their second round of funding. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz also participated in this round, joining Spark Capital, Formation 8, Founders Fund, and Matrix Partners.
Concept of the Consumer Oculus Rift
This is the largest investment for Oculus to date. The initial Kickstarter campaign raised a successful $2.4 million, not including the additional Rift purchases. In June, Oculus received an additional $16 million from Spark Capital and Matrix Partners from its first round of funding.
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen told Reuters, ”We believe Oculus will not only alter the gaming landscape but will redefine fundamental human experiences in areas like film, education, architecture, and design”. Andreessen spearheaded the $75 million dollar funding and will be joining the Oculus board of directors.
The funding will be used to help Oculus develop the first commercial Rift. Oculus hopes to keep the retail Rift at a $300 to $400 price point. With an improved design, the second development kit is due to launch early next year. Although not many details have been announced, we expect that the retail Oculus Rift will be quite similar to the second development kit.
Oculus has had spokesmen like John Carmack focusing on a public release, but without a confirmed date. We look forward to the consumer version and are excited for the road ahead for virtual reality.
With this boom in VR, do you think you will purchase a consumer Oculus Rift when they first go on sale? Let us know in the comments or on ABT forum.
