XR Games Raises £5.9M in Funding

XR Games, a Leeds, UK-based independent games studio and virtual reality (VR) developer, raised £5.9m ($7m) in funding.

The round was led by existing investors act media ventures, Praetura Ventures and Maven.

The company intends to use the funds to grow its team, to move to a larger studio in the city centre, as it invests in intellectual property (IP), to develop new games, and research into VR and augmented reality (AR) technologies.

Led by Bobby Thandi, Founder and CEO, XR Games is an independent games studio and developer of virtual reality (VR) games working with major partners and internationally-renowned brands, including Sony Pictures VR and Rovio Entertainment, to create games for the rapidly-growing VR and AR market. Its first title ‘Zombieland: Headshot Fever,‘ was launched in 2021.

XR Games initially raised £1m in a round led by act media ventures (formerly known as ACT Capital Partners), and subsequently raised £1.5m in a round led by Praetura Ventures alongside act media ventures in 2019. XR Games raised a further £1.5m in 2021 as part of an investment round led by Maven utilising both Maven managed VCT Funds and NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, (Maven) which is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), with backing from act media ventures.

In less than a year, the studio has tripled its headcount to employ more than 85 people and continues to grow. In March, XR Games acquired specialist VR game studio Fierce Kaiju to expand its games portfolio and scale its teams.