A Guide to the VR scene in Stockholm
List of the hottest new Virtual Reality startups
VR is the talk of the town in many tech scenes and Stockholm is a great place to join the conversation. Powered by established players from the gaming industry, Stockholm also offers inspiring startups within HealthTech, EdTech, VR-experiences and consulting.
While Magic Leap might run away with the biggest headlines concerning investments in VR hardware, Stockholm based Resolution Games recently closed a $6M deal led by GV (Google Ventures), securing the largest investment so far by a VR gaming studio. Resolution games is lead by the mastermind behind Candy Crush Saga Tommy Palm and he is but one of many high profiled developers who are now focusing on the fast growing VR market.
Here is a list of the hottest Stockholm based VR companies worth noticing:
Game studios
Resolution Games
- VR Game Developer
- Founded by ex-King executive Tommy Palm who is credited as the mastermind behind Candy Crush Saga.
- First game, Bait, was downloaded over 150,000 times in it’s first week of release.
- Resolution games raised $6M led by Google Ventures, the highest funding round of a VR game studio to date.
- www.resolutiongames.com
Fast Travel Games
- New VR-game studio
- Very experienced founding team consisting of Oskar Burman (previous executive at Rovio) Kristoffer Benjaminsson (previous executive at Frostbite Labs) and Erik Odeldahl (previous chief of design at Dice where he worked on games such as Mirror’s Edge)
- Raised undisclosed seed round
- fasttravelgames.com
Neat Corporation
- A young VR-game studio
- Their first game, Budget Cuts, have attracted attention because of the way they use game design to solve the motion sickness issue common in VR.
- Founded by seasoned game developers Joachim Holmer, Jenny Nordenborg and award winning programmer Marko Permanto.
- neatcorporation.com
Nuxstudios
- Founded in 2016 with the sole purpose of building VR/AR experiences, games and applications.
- Are behind the highly awaited Wands game set to be released on August 18th 2016
- Are working with Univrses (see below) to integrate positional tracking in the software.
- nuxstudios.com
Svrvive
- Have just released their first VR game, also called Svrvive, for HTC Vive
- Have attracted 1,7 Mio $ from venture firm Back in Black, among others.
- The advisory board shows impressive personage in HTC VR director Rikard Steiber and Spotify legal advisor Sofia Sheppard.
- svrvive.com
Dice
- Working on Star Wars Battlefront VR for Sony Playstations VR-headset setup for release in the fall 2016.
- 20 year+ old game studio with an impressive track record of successful games like the Battlefield series and Mirror’s Edge
- dice.se
Starbreeze — StarVR
- Developing a brand new VR headset with unparalell performance and experience.
- Will revolutionize VR industry.
- Several VR games in development to be released with headset.
- starvr.com
VR companies — more than gaming
Univrses
- Unique technology for positional tracking on mobile VR headsets.
- Their positional tracking prevents the feeling of motion sickness often experienced when playing VR and can be used in gaming and non gaming apps.
- CEO, Ricky Helgesson, with a past in gaming frontrunners DICE and Frostbite.
- Founded in 2015 with backing from Almi Invest, Reaktor Ventures and Nijm Invest.
- univrses.com
Mimerse
- VR company specialized in gamified psychological help and automated mental health treatments.
- Strong founder in DJ turned entrepreneur William Hamilton
- Released the app Itsy in spring 2016 based on clinical test with 100 people in cooperation with Stockholm University.
- Backed by Vinnova with 0,5 Mio SEK to complete first prototype
- mimerse.com
ScioVR
- New VR-studio aiming to create engaging educational experiences directed both at kids, students and adults using VR.
- CEO, Dag Eklund, previously involved as founder in the successful 3D classroom startup Sensavis
- Most known for their virtual operation room used to teach students surgical procedures created in cooperation with SÖS and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.
- sciovr.com
Manomotion
- Early stage startup focused on manual interaction in VR
- Has received 1,4 Mio SEK from Swedish early stages backers Vinnova.
- Shortlisted “Innovation of the year 2015” by Swedish Mobile Awards.
- manomotion.com
Wonderworld (360 videos)
- Swedish pioneers within 360 degrees video production who became locally famous when providing the 360-video for Swedish Television program Musikhjälpen.
- Led by CEO Simon Romanus who has a 20 year track record filling almost every conceivable role within media production from host over producer to CEO.
- They specialize in live transmissions of VR content.
- wonderworldvr.com
Diakrit
- In VR terms an old company established in 2001.
- With their app they create VR experiences of homes, already built or just drawn, helping real estate agents make faster sells.
- Rupert Murdoch owned News Corp recently bought a majority in the company for an undisclosed amount.
- diakrit.com
Vobling
- Consulting on VR/AR and gamefication.
- Key people are Co-Founders Patrick Hansson and William Hamilton, both also of Mimerse.
- Clients like Tobii and Kellog’s among others.
- Situated at Gamla Stan in central Stockholm and has an Asian branch in the Philippines.
- vobling.com
Gleechi
- Makes it easy to simulate hands that can move and interact in the virtual world.
- Creators of award-winning software technology VirtualGrasp™
- Technology can be applied in games, healthcare, robotics, animation and more.
- Gleechi.com
More VR
The VR scene is growing rapidly these years in Stockholm and 2016 is looking to be just as good as hoped for.
Look for more information on VR in Stockholm in Swedish at VR Sverige where insights about VR in general and the Stockholm scene in particular can be found. As a supplement it’s recommended to consult with vrgeeks.se who are specialized in games and gear for VR and AR.
The Stockholm VR meetups are bi-monthly events presenting the hottest actors from the local scene and abroad and facilitating networking in collaboration with different venues and partners. The latest way of exploring VR might be the new vrevents.se who organize events with VR technology for groups and companies who wants to get a taste of the fast growing business.
If you’re an investor, entrepreneur or developer who would like to engage with the VR scene in Stockholm, get in touch! The City of Stockholm would love to be your host.
