Mercia Tech increases investment in virtual reality game devloper

Investment company Mercia Technologies has increased its investment by £1m in nDreams, a virtual reality game developer, as part a funding round with other investors.

The AIM-listed company's investment was part of a £2m funding round, the first of a two-stage round, alongside a syndicate of angel investors, who are generally interested in helping a start-up in its infancy, rather than making a possible profit.

Since floating in December 2014, the company has invested £5.1m in nDreams and now holds 41% stake.

nDreams will use the funds raised to expand further in the virtual reality market which, is estimated to reach $30bn by 2020, according to Digi Capital, a technology mergers and acquisition advisory firm.

In October, the company launched its game, The Assembly, on Sony's PlayStation VR, following its debut on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive earlier in the year, and the company has recently published Danger Goat, its first title for Google on Daydream, the technology giant’s new high-quality mobile virtual reality platform.

Mike Hayes, Mercia's investment director of digital and digital entertainment, said: "nDreams has made considerable progress this year, as reflected by the recent £3m uplift in the value of our holding. This syndicated round is further testament to nDreams' growing status as a leading virtual reality content developer and publisher.

“nDreams exemplifies the benefits of Mercia's approach to identifying and investing in UK technology businesses. By combining our commercial and sector expertise with exciting opportunities and talented teams, we are seeking to build successful businesses across the UK's regions to create medium term incremental shareholder value."

Shares in Mercia Technologies were up 2.55% to 49.22p at 0835 GMT.