Metaverse launch leads to surge in UK virtual reality investment
Investment into the UK’s virtual reality sector hit record levels in 2021 as the launch of the Metaverse caused an unprecedented boom in the final the three months of the year, according to new figures.
Around £154m worth of capital flowed into private virtual reality firms in 2021 compared to less than £90m in 2020, driven by a surge of investment in the last quarter, according to research from institutional stockbroking firm Arden Partners.
Investors pumped £72m worth of capital into virtual reality firms after Meta Platforms announced the launch of the Metaverse in August.
Alex DeGroote, Research Director at Arden, said: “The unprecedented level of private capital investment in the virtual reality sector, and particularly in the final quarter of the year, indicates how much investors are really starting to see how this market is set to explode.”
DeGroote said the Metaverse and a wave of new technologies were leading investors to take note of the sector.
He added: “We envisage an exponential rise in both private and public capital investment into the virtual reality sector as consumers and companies look for new ways to communicate and operate.”
In a separate report released in late 2021, Arden said the rise of ‘virtual spaces’ has prompted technology conglomerates such as Facebook to hire thousands of employees to develop virtual reality space for consumer and professional services.