Meyer’s Ariadne Capital Backs Two UK Virtual Worlds
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UK digital investment house Ariadne Capital has funded two UK-based virtual-world companies, NearGlobal and RealLife, with undisclosed amounts. The company, which backed Spinvox early in its life, is now supporting NearGlobal which makes 3D representations of world cities, which are used as “portals” for shopping, education and social networking—Near London is due for launch before Christmas this year. The second is social networking-based MMO game RealLife, which is launching in beta on Facebook in the next few days ahead of a full launch in July. It’s the fifth funding round for Ariadne (as an investor or adviser) in the last six months.
The deal confirms CEO and Dragons’ Den resident Julie Meyer’s optimism in an interview with me in March. She said the recession wouldn’t stop the company from investing in the right companies. Meyer said she had been following virtual worlds but didn’t see where the ROI would come from, but said virtual worlds do work “where the user experience has a purpose, such as shopping or learning a trade, and is driven by a robust business model.” So NearGlobal’s virtual cities will have an e-commerce element while Real Life offers school and university leavers the chance to virtually experiment with careers and meet recruiters
SEE ALSO: Interview: Julie Meyer, CEO, Ariadne Capital: The Dragon Roars Again
Whether these new virtual worlds will gain traction remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that MMO games and online worlds are big money—last week’s €2 million funding of eRepublik being the latest in a string of VC deals in the sector this year. Though unlike some MMO products like eRepublik, the new additions to Ariadne’s portfolio appear to have thought about their business model before building reach. We look forward to seeing whether they can pull it off in an increasingly crowded market.
NearGlobal’s board is joined by investor Marc Worth— the co-founder of WGSN.com fashion site—as non-executive chairman. It was he that worked with Meyer to secure the rights to WGSN.com 10 years ago. Real Life is run by Paul Flanigan who has been an exec-in-residence with Ariadne since 2004.
Posted In: Entertainment, Games, Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Venture Capital
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