Simmersion Holdings Gets $1.9M Investment from Blue Cove Ventures

Simmersion Holdings, the software company behind SimUrban, has received $1.9 million in an investment from Blue Cove Ventures, which is backed by Japanese firm Hikari Asset Management. The money will towards developing Simmersion's new virtual world, Mycosm, into the private beta mode set to begin in April.  "We are tackling the core problems with virtual worlds: low fidelity, too technical, no control, no fun and no friends," Bob Quodling, CEO, Simmersion Holdings, said in a statement. "Mycosm brings the power of a compelling virtual world platform to everyday users for free."

SimUrban, itself the target of an AU$836,440 grant last September, is already aimed at letting users develop 3D environments and share them, though mostly in a professional setting. Mycosm plans to take that same concept to the broader market, letting general users work for free with more intuitive tools and importable 3D content to create virtual worlds and games. Simmersion, which has beenworking on the technology for three years, will also license Mycosm out for corporate use.

Simmersion plans to focus on the Western market before targeting Asia, though it's shaping up to be a busy space already. With Whirled recently launching in an open beta, Metaplace showing off more and more of its work, and VastPark gearing up for increased public attention, there are plenty of create-your-own-world opportunities out there.

"Mycosm represents a step away from centralized virtual worlds that currently dominate the market, focusing instead on independent worlds created through a fulfilling user experience," explains the company--sounds like a pretty good description of the trend. Now it'll be most interesting to see how Simmersion leverages its existing technology and experience to set Mycosm apart from the crowd.