VR WORLD CONGRESS LAUNCHES INVESTOR SHOWCASE; VR, AR and MR START-UPS CAN PITCH FOR UP TO £2 MILLION INVESTMENT

VR World Congress – 11-13 April 2017, Bristol

VR World Congress <http://vrworldcongress.com/>, the largest dedicated virtual reality event in Europe, is launching an Investor Showcase <http://vrworldcongress.com/conference/investor-showcase/> to give VR, AR and MR start-ups a unique opportunity to pitch for up to £2 million in investment.

The showcase will run in partnership with top legal firm TLT <http://www.tltsolicitors.com/sectors/technology-media-and-telecoms/> and is being held in association with the Silicon Gorge partnership, which has traditionally showcased tech start-ups from the south west of the UK.

Entries are open from today (13 March) until 6pm Monday 20 March for companies with VR, AR, Merged Media and 360 Content Applications who are looking for between £25,000 – £2 million of investment. The application form can be found here <https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VRWCPitch>.

The entry criteria is as follows:

· Early stage (looking for £25k – £500k investment) or growth stage (looking for £500k – £2m investment)

· Start-ups from any sphere of VR and AR, including but not limited to the main themes of VR World Congress 2017: culture/tourism, gaming, transport/ mobility, audio-visual/ entertainment, retail and health

· Applications are not restricted geographically, however, successful live pitch finalists must commit to physically attend VR World Congress on 12 April in Bristol, UK

After an initial review stage, the successful applicants will be asked to do a first stage Skype pitch to a panel of judges on 29 March, before the final 10 are selected for the live pitch in front of VC and angel investors on 12 April at VR World Congress in Bristol.

The live pitch judging panel will be led by Mike Hayes, Investment Director at Mercia Technologies plc, which recently invested £2m in nDreams, the largest UK software developer focused solely on VR interactive entertainment.

The 10 finalists will each receive two complimentary three-day conference passes to VR World Congress worth £600.

“These are exciting times for VR, AR and MR. Much of the hardware is now available so the focus has shifted to developing creative, exciting applications with real world appeal and impact. This kind of development can be a massive time and money swallower for a start-up, which is why it’s so important investment is made available to them and their creations are made possible rather than thwarted before they get off the ground,” commented Dan Page, creative director, VR World Congress.

VR World Congress <http://vrworldcongress.com/> is a globally leading VR conference, expo and matchmaking event spanning three jam-packed days with world-class speakers and exhibitors – this year welcoming over 2,000 attendees to the iconic Millennium Square, Bristol, UK on 11-13.