More than a dozen Chinese virtual-reality (VR) start-ups raised fresh funding of at least 10 million yuan each last month as venture capitalists continue to flock to this nascent market.
The Nanfang Daily also reported on Monday that 60 listed domestic companies have entered the VR industry since July last year through investments in content developers and device makers.
The VR consumer market will explode within a year in China, according to a white paper released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) last week. The market size of China’s VR industry will triple this year to 5.66 billion yuan from 1.54 billion yuan last year, according to the white paper. It also estimates the industry revenue is on track to cross 55 billion yuan by 2020.
According to MIIT, China will issue a series of regulations on content production, terminal displays and soft platform development this year.
On March 2, domestic wearable device maker Bong announced it completed 32 million yuan of financing and announced its entry into VR device manufacturing. The investment was led by Yinjiang Venture Capital, according to tech.163.com. On March 16, Shenzhen-based smart home theatre provider JmGO announced that it closed a 600 million yuan investment deal led by Golden Brick Capital and Zhongjin Qianhai Fund.
The trend continues this month, with technology major Huawei announcing its entry into VR. On Saturday, Huawei launched its own VR headset, called Huawei VR, to rival Samsung’s Gear VR. Huawei VR will be compatible with the company’s latest smartphone, including the P9 and P9 Plus, and the Mate 8.