Saudi venture capital firm KBW Ventures participated in $5.8 million Series A funding round for the UAE-based immersive video app start-up 360VUZ, it was announced on Monday.

The funding round, led by Shorooq Partners, also saw participation from VC firms such as Media Visions, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures and 500 Startups, and from three strategic investors, namely, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, and Jonathan Labin.

In a statement to Zawya, KBW Ventures said it is the firm’s first-ever investment in a UAE-based tech start-up.

However, the firm’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed told Zawya that KBW Ventures is location-agnostic in terms of investments.

“If the value proposition is there then there’s always a chance that we will consider the business no matter where it is headquartered,” he said. KBW Venture’s investment amount wasn’t disclosed.

The Series A round brings 360VUZ’s total amount raised to $7 million to date, a press statement released by the start-up said. It said the investment would support further technological development of 360VUZ teleporter mobile app and expand its global reach from 15 countries at present to more cities in Asia, Europe and the USA.

The app witnessed “a strong uptick [in user engagement] of over 297 percent over the past 30 days,” the statement added. 

Previous investors include Al Touq Group, DTEC Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Al Rashid family angel investors, Tareq Jalabi and Mohanad Alwadiya.

Worldwide spending on augmented and virtual reality is expected to reach $18.8 billion in 2020 with consumer spending accounting for $7 billion, according to technology market intelligence firm, IDC.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

#KBW Ventures #VirtualReality #360VUZ #UAE

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