Improbable Worlds Ltd., British virtual reality start-up, has secured $500 million in one of the UK’s largest venture capital deals.
The investment will give SoftBank (OTCMKTS:SFTBF) a “non-controlling” stake in the British start-up. No further details were given on how much Softbank now owns of Improbable.
The virtual reality start-up was founded five years ago by two Cambridge graduates.
“It was amazing to see how much detail they had gotten into in terms of the technology and where it could go and it was amazing to see how aligned their long-term vision was with ours,” said co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Herman Narula in an interview.
He continued by saying they wanted an investor that could provide enough funds for them to see the project through and not have to sell out.
“We want to see this through all the way,” Narula said. “This this isn’t something we want to look for a short-term return on.”
“Retaining our independence was something we talked about in a bar five years ago. I’d like to see a British company – maybe us – get to the level where we could be a world-leading platform,” he told the BBC.
Improbable plans to “explore and identify opportunities for mutually beneficial relationships with SoftBank, its partners and portfolio companies”.
Improbable is a new virtual reality start-up that promises to make waves across the industry.
Improbable’s technology “will help us explore disease, improve cities, understand economies and solve complex problems on a previously unimaginable scale,” said Nishar.
“Our vision is to create completely new realities, massive virtual worlds that can change the way we live and work and can impact the way we understand some of the hardest problems.” he continued.
This is not the first foreign investment Improbable has received. Two years ago the start-up was given $20 million from Silicon Valley group Andreessen Horowitz, which it used to fund its expansion and employ up to 20 people.