A UK-based immersive technology firm, Igloo Vision, has concluded a £435k funding round. The Shropshire-based company specialises in creating projection spaces, such as domes, cylinders, cubes, and workspaces.

Based in the Shropshire countryside, south of Shrewsbury, Igloo designs and develops immersive 360° domes, cylinders, and all of the enabling technologies.

“Stepping inside an Igloo immersive space is a bit like stepping inside a giant VR headset,” says the company. A headset that up to 750 people can get inside.

Based in the UK countryside, it also has offices in London, the USA (both in the New York metro area and Los Angeles) and Canada.

Strength

“The fact that we were able to secure the investment in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis demonstrates the strength of the Igloo proposition,” said Igloo CEO, Dennis Wright.

“Our investors were particularly impressed by how we continued to get the Igloo message out, develop our solutions, and sign-up new business. As the crisis recedes, we will be in a strong position to resume our growth story.”

This latest fundraising round, which values Igloo Vision at £17.5 million, secured investment from several sources. The largest proportion, at £200,000, came from the London-based brokerage house and fund manager Mariana UFP LLP under its Growth EIS Fund.

The remaining £235,000 was secured from the company’s existing Midlands-based investors, including the Greater Birmingham EIS fund and Frontier Development Capital.

Immersive meetings

Earlier in 2020, it unveiled a new immersive workspace concept, which enables clients to retrofit the company’s technology into existing meeting rooms.

Similarly, in response to the Coronavirus crisis, it has developed a range of immersive video conferencing techniques, to help remotely-located project teams collaborate more effectively. The new funds will help to commercialise both of these systems, says the company.

Pictured above is a cycle photo, projection environments while pictured below is an immersive workspace.

Exercise science

The Centre for Sport and Exercise Science and Medicine (SESAME) at The University of Brighton is an owner of a 210° Igloo projection system.

The simulator is primarily used to research reaction times and decision-making in sport-related situations, says the company. By using digital media to immerse participants in unfamiliar surroundings, psychological effects can also be assessed.