Austin—Virtual reality startup Owlchemy Labs has raised $5 million in Series A funding from investors such as Qualcomm Ventures, The Venture Reality Fund, HTC, Colopl Next, and Capital Factory.
The startup is best known for its “Job Simulator” game, which is paired with the HTC Vive virtual reality headset. CEO Alex Schwartz says the startup is working on versions for the Oculus and upcoming Sony PlayStation headsets.
The “Job Simulator” game is a virtual tour of a variety of workplaces set in the future. “It’s a satirical, tongue-in-cheek simulation,” Schwartz says. “In the future, because robots have started automating jobs in society, jobs no longer exist. So users can put on a headset and go back in time to when humans had to work and see what it’s like to be an office worker.”
Owlchemy is also working on a VR game with the producers of the Adult Swim/Cartoon Network television show “Rick and Morty” to develop a game based on the show.
Owlchemy is the second Austin-based virtual reality startup to announce funding in recent days. Last week, I spoke to founders of TheWaveVR, which raised $2.5 million in a seed round. The startup is making an app that would create a virtual world of concerts, where users—who must have a virtual reality headset like one produced by Oculus—can join concerts by favorite DJs or artists.
