YJM Games, a South Korean mobile game developer, has invested in the Venture Reality Fund (The VR Fund), a $50 million fund dedicated to investing in early-stage virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality startups.
The deal shows that there’s still worldwide interest in investing in augmented reality and virtual reality, which are expected to be a $108 billion market by 2021, according to tech advisor Digi-Capital.
“They are our first investor and partner in South Korea and have great pedigree and presence in the country, which should play a very important role in VR/AR markets, as it did for the mobile ecosystem,” said Marco DeMiroz, general partner at The VR Fund.
YJM Games has plans to become a big player in AR/VR in the future. In addition, YJM said it plans to make strategic investments in VR, AR, and MR companies.
“We are very pleased and honored to have YJM Games as our first partner in Korea,” said DeMiroz, in a statement. “In terms of the VR and AR market size, we believe that it is a good opportunity to communicate innovative VR and AR content through the alliance with YJM Games in major Asian markets, while also promoting Asian VR and AR content to the global market.”
The VR Fund is a major member of the Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (VRVCA), a global large investment consortium of about $15 billion, with members such as Softbank.
The VR Fund has invested in startups such as TheWaveVR, Owlchemy Labs, and Sliver TV. Tipatat Chennavasin, a VR specialist who is a cofounder and general partner at The VR Fund, is a mentor of South Korean VR startup jointly operated by YJM Games and Gumi Japan.
Y.J. Min, CEO of YJM Games, said in a statement, “We have participated in this fund limited partnership with the best expertise in VR around the world. I hope to grow together.”