I’m weary of calling anything we see with VR a “first-ever” as the technology has been around for decades and people often pop up to point out things have happened in the past that might technically be the “first-ever.” Nevertheless, many people would likely be interested to know Germany-based Arthur Technologies just closed its funding deal with investment group Boost VC inside virtual reality, even signing the deal itself inside the company’s collaboration platform.
[gfycat data_id=”OfficialWhisperedHornshark”]
Meeting with investors in VR to demonstrate the quality of a platform is a pretty obvious way for a startup to show investors what its technology can do. BigScreen, for example, agreed to terms with investors while inside the social screen-sharing VR software, and they sealed the deal with a virtual fist bump. In the case of Arthur Technologies, though, literally using a Vive controller to sign a document — in a shared virtual world with investors in California and the startup in Germany — is a pretty interesting demonstration of the technology’s capabilities.
“Many companies are unaware of how significant the advantages of VR collaboration are,” Arthur Technology Founder Christoph Fleischmann said in a prepared statement. “It is not about abolishing physical meetings or video calls. It is more about taking advantage of an entirely new form of communication and shared work. One that allows us to engage together in a virtual space that can handle much more complexity than existing solutions, opening a new way for remote teams to share ideas, knowledge, and information.”
Boost VC Managing Director Adam Draper will now be holding office hours in VR starting at two hours each week. Companies he’s already invested in can discuss questions or new companies might pitch ideas in VR.
“It was incredible how quickly we could navigate through various topics in our meetings,” Draper said in a prepared statement. “We could easily discuss information about the company, multiple legal documents and future strategy all at once—in a meeting that had the same efficiency as a physical encounter, if not even more.”
Companies interested in using the Arthur Technologies software can contact beta@arthur.digital or visit the company’s website for more information www.arthur.digital. Arthur Technologies is part of Boost’s 10th “Tribe” of startups. Draper declined to release the size of the investment.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
