Friday, March 29, 2024

SPACES Announces Addditional $6.5 Million in Funding from VR Theme Park Partner Songcheng

SPACES Inc., the virtual reality and mixed reality company launched in 2016 by VR experts from DreamWorks Animation, has raised an additional $6.5 million in funding, led by China-based Songcheng Performances Development Co. Ltd., with additional investment from Comcast Ventures, the venture-capital affiliate of Comcast Corporation, and other leading VC groups.

Combined with a previously announced $30-million SPACES-Songcheng theme park joint venture, the new investments accelerate SPACES’ vision to build a new era of VR-enabled parks and attractions.

SPACES’ Series Seed round also includes investments by Boost VC; Colopl VR Fund; GREE Inc.; Kai Huang; The Venture Reality Fund; and Youku Global Media Fund and CRCM VC – all of whom were initial investors in SPACES.

“Through our SPACES Parks & Attractions division, we’re fundamentally reimagining the theme park experience with stunning advances in VR technology,” said SPACES co-founder and CEO Shiraz Akmal. “Together with our Songcheng joint venture, this new capital expands our efforts to create entirely new kinds of VR-enabled destinations.”

Co-founder and CTO Brad Herman added, “It’s exciting to be at the center of the convergence of creativity, technology and theme parks. The future of VR and mixed reality will bring to life immersive experiences on a grand scale.”

SPACES and Songcheng plan to announce details about their theme park projects soon.  Songcheng is one of the world’s biggest theme-park operators, with annual attendance of more than 23 million visitors in 2015, according to data from the Themed Entertainment Association.

SPACES also announced that it has named former DreamWorks Animation CFO Fazal Merchant; Comcast Ventures’ managing director Michael Yang; and Ethan Wang, general manager of Songcheng Technology, to serve on its newly established board of directors.

“SPACES is poised for unprecedented opportunity in the global theme-park market,” Yang said. “I look forward to helping the team navigate the quickly growing VR entertainment space as a board member and investor.”

Based in Los Angeles, SPACES takes its name from the base unit of virtual reality, a “space,” and boasts one of the most accomplished teams in the VR industry, with artists, designers and programmers from film, television, video games, visual effects, theme parks and animation.

Joe Kleiman
Joe Kleimanhttp://wwww.themedreality.com
Raised in San Diego on theme parks, zoos, and IMAX films, InPark's Senior Correspondent Joe Kleiman would expand his childhood loves into two decades as a projectionist and theater director within the giant screen industry. In addition to his work in commercial and museum operations, Joe has volunteered his time to animal husbandry at leading facilities in California and Texas and has played a leading management role for a number of performing arts companies. Joe previously served as News Editor and has remained a contributing author to InPark Magazine since 2011. HIs writing has also appeared in Sound & Communications, LF Examiner, Jim Hill Media, The Planetarian, Behind the Thrills, and MiceChat His blog, ThemedReality.com takes an unconventional look at the attractions industry. Follow on twitter @ThemesRenewed Joe lives in Sacramento, California with his wife, dog, and a ghost.

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