Mercia Technologies invests £2m in virtual reality company

AIM-listed national investment group Mercia Technologies has completed a £2m follow-on investment into nDreams Limited, a UK-based independent developer and publisher focused on virtual reality gaming and experiences content.

The investment, which is part of a £2.7m funding round alongside private investors and the recently-appointed chair, increases the group’s total amount of capital invested to £7.1m and results in a 45.6% equity shareholding. Mercia said that as the virtual reality market continues to expand, the additional capital will be used to support the release of new games and experience titles throughout 2017, including the latest of its five VR experiences.

nDreams recently appointed chair is Paul Fitzsimons, a former partner at Apax Partners, a leading private equity group. Rob Precious, the former director of business development at Geomerics/ARM, has also joined the board of nDreams as a non-executive director.

The company pointed out that the investment and recent additions to the board come at the same time that nDreams has signed a “significant” deal to bring exclusive new content to a major VR arcade company.

Chief executive officer and founder Patrick O'Luanaigh said: "Mercia's continued support bolsters our relentless ambition to remain at the forefront of VR. nDreams has expanded rapidly over the past 12 months leading to exciting commercial opportunities, including our move into VR arcade content and our continued focus on creating innovative VR content for home use. We are also delighted to welcome Paul and Rob to the board, who both bring a wealth of experience and insight to the team."