A tech firm specialising in immersive ‘out-of-home’ virtual reality experiences has this morning floated on the London Stock Exchange, raising almost £6 million.
Immotion Group was set up by tech and media entrepreneurs Martin Higginson and David Marks, whose successes include Netplay TV and Monstermob, with Sir Robin Miller as chairman.
The business makes VR cinema pods that combine sight, sound and motion for an immersive experience.
Immotion has raised proceeds of £5.75 million through the placing of 57.5 million new shares at 10p per share. Upon admission, it had a market capitalisation of £19.54 million.
The Manchester-based company will use the funds raised to become “a leading participant” in the ‘out of home’ VR experience market by creating and publishing high quality content and combining it with its VR motion platforms.
The float comes less than three months after raising £500,000 to speed up the roll-out of its virtual reality cinema pods across entertainment centres, theme parks and museums.
CEO Martin Higginson says the IPO will allow Immotion to “build momentum and achieve our goal to build the business across the UK, Europe and USA in what is an exciting, fast growing market”.
“The five star reviews received from our retail customers, along with the early sales of motion platforms and a successful launch experienced by our concession partner, Merlin Entertainments’ Lego Discovery Center in Boston, have given us confidence in the market and our strategy to deliver on the opportunity,” he said.
Immotion generates revenues by selling VR motion platforms to leisure and entertainment operators, teaming up with concession partners and launching both owned and franchise outlets.
Higginson added: “In combining award-winning storytelling, CGI production and precise motion synchronisation, Immotion Group can deliver experiences that are not easily replicable in the ‘in home’ market.
“We have already experienced a very positive reaction from consumers, many of whom are trying VR for the first time, and from business partners who see the strong potential for our VR platforms to provide a new revenue opportunity.”