River Accelerator Announces First Batch of Investments
Since Oculus kickstarted the virtual reality boom after being acquired by Facebook for 2 billion dollars, more and more tech companies are storming into the VR space hoping to catch the upcoming swell.
With astonishing hardware and infrastructure to work on, developers and content creators are now creating applications and experiences like never before. Rothenberg Venture believes that VR technology will transform every industry over the next decade or two, just as the Internet boom from two decades ago.
Similar to Y-combinator and 500 Startups, Rothernberg Venture’s “River” is an accelerator that focuses exclusively on incubating virtual reality startup companies. Over the past, we have seen the impact of startup accelerators on the technology scene, fostering the growth of world leading tech companies such as Google, Logitech, Dropbox…and many more.
River is a 3-month program that accelerates the elite VR startup companies by supporting these companies with mentorship, funding, office space, and community. Once accepted into the program, each company will receive $100,000 USD investment to help with growth.
The River Accelerator is current targeting companies in the following sectors:
Infrastructure- Hardware and physical elements that constitute the Virtual Reality system
Platforms-Outlets for creators and innovators to build on
Applications-Communications, e-commerce, travel, healthcare, education and training
Content-Gaming, cinema, interactive media
River recently announced their first batch of companies. After examine this list, we can see it is apparent that virtual reality boom is storming in at global scale. Let us take a look at who they are and what these companies are working on.
DeepStream VR (Seattle, WA)
Healthcare: VR games for pain relief and rehabilitation
Tag line: Virtual Reality games to relieve pain
Founders: Howard Rose, Ari Hollander
DISCOVR (Canada)
Education: Immersive learning experiences about exploring the ancient world
Founder: Josh Maldonado, Omar Charles, Professor Bernard Frischer
Emblematic Group (Los Angeles, CA)
Journalism: Immersive journalism in VR
Founder: Nonny de la Peña
Emergent VR (San Francisco, CA)
Social Media: Instagram of VR; application to create, edit and share 360 VR experiences with the world using mobile phones
Founders: Peter Wilkins, Chris Wheeler
Fove (Japan)
Hardware: The world’s first headset to use eye tracking to create an immersive experience
Founders: Yuka Kojima, Lochlainn Wilson
Innerspace (France and South Korea)
Entertainment: High quality content focused on artistic and cultural expression
Founder: Balthazar Auxietre and Hayoun Kwon
Psious (Spain)
Healthcare: Platform for mental health practitioners to help patients cure fears using immersion therapy in VR
Founders: Xavier Palomer, Dani Roig
Reload Studios (Los Angeles, CA)
Entertainment: Game studio of developers and artists from Disney and Call of Duty
Founder: James Chung
SDK Lab (South Africa, Botswana, and Cameroon)
Training and Travel: Industrial training and travel in VR
Founders: Shaun Wilson, Christian Yves Fongang
Solirax (Czech Republic)
Education: Platform for exploration, discovery and creativity
Founders: Tomas Mariancik and Karel Hulec
Triggar (Australia)
Hardware: 360-degree capture camera and system
Founders: Bruce Allan and Rob Allan
Thotwise (Argentina)
Entertainment: Game studio focusing on exploration and suspense
Founder: Ariel Arias
Vantage.TV (Dallas, TX)
Entertainment: 180-degree viewing experience for concerts and live events (Ticketmaster for VR events)
Founders: Juan Santillan, Michael Richardson, Marc Scharer
