Improbable, the UK’s poster child for virtual worlds technology for more than a decade, narrowed losses by £131 million to just £19m last year.
The London company saw revenue growth of 2.6x to £78m in 2022 after adopting a more targeted operating model amid the hype of the metaverse.
Having made a loss of £129m in 2020 then £152m in 2021, it had hoped to achieve profitability in 2022 but just fell short.
The buzz surrounding the metaverse has since died down, but Improbable is confident that it is now building a solid business. After raising £115m from world-leading investors to establish virtual ecosystem M² last year – a space allowing companies, brands and creators to establish their own interoperable metaverses and Web3 businesses – its technology roadmap focuses on enabling events, supported by content creation tool sets.
It says it has run 22 events over the past six months and has a goal to deliver close to 300 such events next year.
“The Improbable business has matured significantly in the past two years and these numbers are testament to that,” said CFO Dan Odell. “The focus is now on industrialising what we are doing by being involved in more events with more people where there is scope to drive and monetize engagement levels.”
Improbable, 12th on our MediaTech 50 ranking this year, also provides multiplayer services to dozens of global publishers. In June this year it disposed of its defence and national security business to deepen its focus on the metaverse.
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It says a new product will be announced shortly, including advances in rendering that allow for the coupling of Improbable mass-scale technology with generative AI.
The business finished 2022 with cash of £140m.
“Improbable emerged from 2022 a much stronger, leaner and more resilient entity. We should all be excited for the future as we have a fantastic foundation to build upon and deliver content at scale,” said COO Peter Lipka.
“Our venture-building activity will see us initiate, grow and eventually spin-off a whole new set of businesses exploring the metaverse.”
Ventures and partnerships include work done for large brands such as the recent agreement with Major League Baseball but also more experimental projects such as the Victory League, a football fan engagement project.
Finally, there are initiatives Improbable seeks to launch or engage in as thought leaders in this space, such as its role as the founding group behind the launch of The Metaverse Society.
“Today showcases how far we have come and validates our metaverse focus, yet there is still so much to go after for this business,” said CEO Herman Narula (pictured) after delivering a showcase. “Opportunities abound in sports, entertainment and music.
“Our proprietary technology is able to take fan engagement and experiences to a new level and we gather ever more users excited by new experiences happening in the metaverse.
“Today demonstrates we have a fabulous set of products overseen by a passionate and dedicated team, delivering robust financial numbers.”