Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC announced in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange today that they will be investing nearly $10 million in US-based virtual reality company WEVR as part of an effort to develop its non-smartphone business.
HTC’s filing shows that the investment will be carried out via subsidiary HTC (BVI) Corp to acquire 15 percent, or 1.73 million shares, of WEVR.
The smartphone maker unveiled in March its first virtual-reality headset, the HTC Vive, at the Mobile World Congress in Spain. VRScout has taken the HTC Vive out for a spin a few times now and it is one our favorite VR headsets available for developers in the market today.
#Vive and #SteamVR have changed the game. @nevillespiteri excited to discuss bright #VR future with @CherWang pic.twitter.com/XAj60Qm6u8
— WEVR (@onwevr) April 17, 2015
WEVR was one of the first companies to begin development and testing with the HTC Vive, seen out in the wild as early as March at the VRLA conference. Aside from developing content for the HTC Vive, WEVR’s past projects have included the CBS Interactive comedy short and Adult Swim’s The Virtual Brainload. WEVR also has a $1 million grant program, OnWEVR to help fund immersive storytelling projects.
HTC chairperson Cher Wang told shareholders last month that the company is looking to accelerate its acquisition of new business opportunities, more specifically within virtual reality, and that the HTC Vive has been well-received by the market and that the company would focus on virtual reality development.
This story is still developing…
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