Specialist tech investor Sure Ventures PLC (LON:SURE) has made its first direct investment in the UK.
The venture capital fund is putting £500,000 into Immotion Group, a Manchester-based group that specialises in virtual reality cinema pods.
WATCH: Sure Ventures invests £500k in VR start-up Immotion Group
Immotion's pods combine advanced sight, sound and multi-directional motion.
Entertainment centres, theme parks and museums are using them already to produce content far superior to that available at home.
Immotion already has pods in leading visitor attractions across Europe and the US under its own brand, VR Star, as well as through its partnership network including Genting Resorts World.
Close-ups of whales underwater, Stonehenge at daybreak and space battles are some of the examples highlighted on its website.
Jurassic World
The Yorkshire Museum used Immotion's technology in its Jurassic World exhibition, opened by naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough in March.
Sure Ventures listed on January on the LSE’s specialist funds segment and focuses on early-stage companies in the financial technology (‘FinTech'), augmented reality ('AR'), virtual reality ('VR'), and Internet of Things ('IoT') sectors.
Immotion, which also an office in Los Angeles, will use the funding for sales and marketing strategy and to roll-out across Europe.
A previous funding round raised £1.3mln for Immotion at the end of 2017.
Separately, Sure said it has committed to invest £5mln into the Suir Valley Venture Fund, a fund managed by Shard Capital.
Sure has agreed a £1mln loan facility with Shard Merchant Capital, an associate company of Shard.
Sure director, Gareth Burchell, said in a statement: ”Immotion offers significant growth opportunities. Demand for its VR cinema pods are gaining traction as customers increasingly look for new experiences and engage with the concept of being immersed in new virtual worlds.
"Having previously invested in the Suir Valley Venture Fund, this is the first direct investment we have made. We are currently in talks with other exciting companies in our target AR/VR, FinTech and IoT sectors."
Martin Higginson, executive chairman of Immotion, added: "We have seen what is needed to deliver a great experience.
“Our VR cinema pods engage the senses by combining sight, sound and motion, along with premium content from our own award-winning studios, allowing us to help users genuinely escape reality."