Bangalore-based startup, Absentia, that has built a Virtual Reality Headset- Tesseract, has secured seed funding of above $180 K (INR 1.2 Cr) in seed funding from a clutch of investors including Astarc Ventures and 50K Ventures.
The other investors who participated in the round were Vish Satthapan, Sameer Sainani Rajeev Krishnan, Abhishek Jain and Nagaraj Magadum.
The funds will be used for research and development, marketing, manufacturing and intellectual property rights acquisition.
Absentia was started in June 2015 by Shubham Mishra, Vrushali Prasade and Harikrishna Valiyath, dropout students from third year at BITS Pilani Goa Campus. Absentia was started with a necessity to bridge the gap between existing e-content and virtual reality, and extend the experience to every one.
The founders developed a Virtual Reality HeadMount Device called Tesseract along with proprietary patent pending algorithms. The device can convert any media or game to Virtual Reality and simulate it on HMD – Tesseract.
To understand, a virtual reality headset allows users to get inside their favourite games and completely immerse themselves in the virtual world. Absentia offers virtual reality headsets such as Tesseract, that offer users an alternate computer-generated environment. Some, like Sony Playstation VR, also allows users to interact with the elements within the simulated environment.
Tesseract can also be used by architects and product designers for 3D views of real estate developments and designs. Its 360 degree vision allows users to watch videos with complete 3D immersion and users can also use the headgear for viewing panoramic pictures in 3D or with 360 degree vision. The headset uses technology which is compatible with video games developed using any technology and is also compatible with HDMI dongles like the Chromecast.
Virtual Reality is a potential multi-billion dollar market worldwide with an emerging market in India today with applications in gaming, education, healthcare, real estate, architecture, online shopping etc.
As per the Absentia team, market reports suggest that the virtual reality market will be in between $20 Bn to $50 Bn by 2017 at a CAGR of 99%. However, market is uncertain due to high growth rate.
Says Shubham Mishra, co-founder of Absentia said thay the company aims to beat global competition with its novelty. “Absentia aims to be the gold standard in VR technology, and allow everyone to access it. We aim to bring about the much needed revolution in the industry, and simultaneously bring about a radical change in depiction, perception and experience in everyday life. Paving a path to the future using technology is an essential step for human evolution”, he added.
In another deal, Facebook had bought Oculus, a virtual reality company, for about $2 Bn, last year. Absentia will be the first Indian origin Virtual Reality Company on the lines of OCULUS. Besides, Absentia competes with players like Sony and HTC.
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