Improbable has raised £115 million to establish a metaverse ecosystem.
The London firm says M², powered by its Morpheus technology, will allow companies, brands and creators to establish their own interoperable metaverses and Web3 businesses.
It aims to bring together companies, existing communities and fans in sports, music, fashion and entertainment and enable them to interact in virtual spaces with fidelity.
Improbable has for nearly a decade developed technology enabling ever greater complexity in virtual worlds: the company is a leading provider of multiplayer services to over 60 global publishers and through its large scale simulation platform supports the UK government defence mission.
Its Morpheus technology, an evolution of the company’s earlier SpatialOS product, supports over 10,000 players, able to interact with each other in dense virtual spaces. The platform now processes over 350 million communication operations per second and was first demonstrated in live events with thousands of players in 2021.
The financing round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, followed by a cohort of Web3 and crypto investors including Mirana, DCG, CMT, SIG and Ethereal Ventures.
“We founded Improbable to make real the promise of incredible online worlds that were more than just games – they were extensions of our lives,” said Herman Narula, CEO.
“I believe the metaverse and Web3 movement, though very early, represent a once-in-a-generation redefinition of our society towards a ‘fulfilment economy’ where experiences made by an open network of creators and businesses can create enormous opportunity for everyone.
“M² is our contribution to establishing this future and we hope to help our partners catalyse an open metaverse with many participants and success stories.
“We are excited to be actively working with some of the best investors in the space in building out this new ecosystem.”
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Chris Dixon, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, added: “Giving people the tools to design their own metaverses at the scale that Improbable enables, with web3 interoperability and composability to expand on each other’s creations, will result in some truly groundbreaking virtual experiences.
“We are long-term backers of Improbable, and under Herman’s leadership, the team is making their lofty visions a reality.”
Antoine Theysset, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: “We believe the core technology that Improbable has developed enables social experiences unrivalled in scale, resolution and fidelity for thousands of concurrent users.
“The emerging metaverse presents an opportunity for Improbable and its partners to collectively build a leading, decentralised network to bring creators and fans closer together, and reward each other with tokens for their contributions.
“We have partnered with Herman and the team throughout Improbable’s evolution and are thrilled to support them in building another foundational element of the metaverse.”