21 February 2019, Leeds, UK. Leading immersive technologies studio Cooperative Innovations today revealed that it had closed a seed funding round of over £500k, from a number of sources, including angel investor Craig Fletcher, Ascension Ventures and Trend Investment Group. It also announced that it is making its proprietary animation technology, Ikabod, available to license.

The investment will enable the studio to grow its head count and launch a pilot licensing programme for Ikabod, the first of its tools and technologies that will be available. It will also allow it to expand its commitment to ongoing research and development into immersive technologies, and continue development of its original MMORPG VR game, Raiders of Erda, and another as-yet-unannounced multiplayer VR/AR title.

The studio is now actively seeking selected licensing partners for Ikabod. The technology has a wide range of animation uses but has been used primarily by the studio to solve one of the main issues of VR experiences by enabling developers to accurately reflect the player’s real-world physicality on to a VR avatar. Allowing participants to see their arm and body movements properly mirrored within the virtual environment greatly increases immersion and engagement, and Cooperative Innovations is looking forward to helping other developers make the most of this potential.

CEO and co-founder Simon Barratt is looking forward to this next phase for the business:

“Securing this investment really allows us to scale-up the studio and continue to build on our core technologies and tools. We’re passionate about immersive experiences as the future of work, life and play, and we’re excited about the opportunity to grow the team, continue our R&D, and release some of our original IP too!”

CTO and co-founder Brian Marshall agrees:

“Ikabod came about as we needed a full IK solution that was fast enough to use on every character, while embracing easy-of-use and artistic expression. Nothing available did everything we needed, so we made it ourselves. We can’t wait to get Ikabod into the hands of more developers and creatives. Being able to now launch this pilot licensing programme, we’re able to really push the system in-the-wild, and continue to improve it into the future. We look forward to hearing from any developers interested in a demo.”

The business is actively seeking new team members (particularly engineers), and encourage people to apply here: www.coopinnovations.co.uk/careers.

For anyone interested in discussing licensing opportunities or any other immersive development services (or making an appointment to meet the team at GDC), please contact Business Development Manager Emma Cooper on emma@coopinnovations.co.uk or CEO Simon Barratt simon@coopinnovations.co.uk

For more information please visit:

https://www.coopinnovations.co.uk

@CoopInnovations

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cooperative-innovations-ltd/

FOR PRESS ONLY:

For more information please contact Natalie Griffith, Identity Spark on natalie@IdentitySpark.net or 07914 840004.

Press assets available here: https://www.coopinnovations.co.uk/press/

ABOUT COOPERATIVE INNOVATIONS:

Cooperative Innovations is an immersive technology studio, committed to empowering creators and consumers to share the future of interactive experiences. Founded in 2016, the company has collaborated with a number of organisations (including Framestore, the BBC and Phoenix Dance Theatre) to create a variety of immersive experiences and technologies. Underpinning all these projects is the studio’s licensable technology including Ikabod – a system allowing VR and AR avatars to accurately reflect the physicality of players in the real world. The studio has also been developing its own original MMORPG VR game, Raiders of Erda, and another as-yet-unannounced multiplayer VR/AR title.

ABOUT ASCENSION VENTURES:

Ascension Ventures backs exceptional entrepreneurs with big visions –providing capital, our network, and expert mentors to grow scalable technology businesses. We support UK businesses from Seed to Series A, and since 2013, Ascension has invested in over 75 UK based early-stage companies. Current funds include the ASCEND SEIS (Seed), CENTAUR EIS (Seed+), UK-India EIS (Seed+), and its Fair By Design social impact fund, working to eradicate the UK’s Poverty Premium.

ABOUT TREND INVESTMENT GROUP:

Trend Investment Group is an international venture fund focusing on investing in start-ups in the pharmaceutical industry as well as e-commerce, internet technology,  artificial intelligence and Fintech. It has invested in more than 30 projects in the UK and the US since its establishment in 2016.