Chinese venture capital firms are interested to invest in foreign virtual reality (VR) companies with advanced VR technologies that can help Chinese business expand overseas, according to experts.
Citing statistics from research firm Digi-Capital, China Daily reported that venture capital firms in the country are turning their attention to VR/AR as investment in the global VR/AR field has reached about $1.7 billion at the end of the first quarter of this year.
The Asian market is also expected to become the key driver in the global VR market with the revenue which is estimated to reach about $30 billion by 2020.
According to the report, 14 Chinese companies have also participated and poured investments in at least nine overseas VR projects, at the end of July.
Among the Chinese companies which are actively involved in investing in overseas VR projects include China Media Capital (CMC), a Shanghai-based investment group and Shanda Group, a leading gaming company.
On Monday, Aug. 8, NextVRInc, a California-based VR startup, said it has raised $80 million in a new financing round, with new investors that included China Media Capital, CITIC Guoan Information Industry Co Ltd, NetEase Inc, Founder H Fund and China Assets (Holdings) Ltd.
The California startup is aiming to gain foothold for live sports, concerts and other events with the new funding. It has been granted 36 patents for the compression, capture, transmission and display of VR content.
It is CMC's second overseas investment in the emerging sector within the year. In September last year, it helped led a $65 million fundraising for Jaunt Inc., a VR software startup, with The Walt Disney Co and Evolution Media Partners, an investment company.
Meanwhile, Shanda Group has become the most active investor in the global VR investment field when it pledged early this year to invest $350 million to create a VR theme park in partnership with The Void LLC, a U.S. entertainment company that specializes in VR technologies.
Shanda and the private investment group of Chen Tianqiao, the founder of Shanda, also poured in money to develop its Everest VR, a VR travel adventure app, with Iceland's Solfar Studios, in December last year.