With the size of the consumer virtual reality (VR) industry as it currently stands, it can be difficult for developers to see a return on their content investments, with many relying on outside financial assistance to stay afloat. Admix, a UK-based startup specialising in non-intrusive advertising to help studios monetise their projects, has managed to raise $2.1 million USD of investment towards its goals.
The seed round was led by Speedinvest, with Suir Valley, Force over Mass and Founders Factory also participating. Admix will use the funds to support product and community development, with plans to double its current team of fifteen over the next 12 months.
“Today, VR/AR developers have very few options to monetize their content: the few solutions that exist are intrusive and not adapted to VR/AR. This creates a lack of incentive for creators, which slows down the industry. Admix aims to grow the industry by creating the infrastructure to power a sustainable business model in VR/AR,” said Samuel Huber, Admix’s co-founder and CEO in a statement. “Our non-intrusive advertising model respects the users, creates a sustainable economy for developers, and enables brands to stand out in a way that is impossible on existing, saturated channels”.
The company was founded in 2017 by gaming entrepreneur Samuel Huber (CEO), advertising veteran Joe Bachle-Morris (COO) and Mark Rich (CTO). Over the past 18 months Admix has seen exponential growth thanks to a partnership with Oath (the parent company of Yahoo and AOL), launching a beta earlier this year which has seen over 100 VR/AR creators working with its platform.
At present, the Admix plug-in for Unity supports banners and videos, with the company working on more advanced 3D ad units.
The next year will also see Admix ramp up its developer outreach through the Admix Academy. This operates an online community called VR/AR Pioneers, offering marketing resources to over 6,000 VR/AR developers, whilst adding over 2,000 members per month.
As Admix continues to grow and advance its platform VRFocus will report back with the latest updates.