Dallas-based Ascent Ventures announced that it has invested in Canada-based OVA’s pre-seed “StellarX,” a content creation tool that helps businesses and individuals access the metaverse via AI and create an accessible and collaborative workspace virtually.
The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
After spending the past year in the NVIDIA Inception Program, OVA CEO Harold Dumur and Ascent co-founders Jon Loeffler and Mark Pomeroy agreed to move forward with equity financing, they said.
NVIDIA Inception is a free program intended to help startups evolve faster via access to cutting-edge technology and NVIDIA experts, opportunities to connect with venture capitalists, and co-marketing support to increase a company’s visibility.
‘World content creation tool for the open metaverse’
“We’ve been impressed by the team’s blend of business empathy, technical chops, and pragmatism. Jon and Mark have assembled a group of partners with experience across marketing, virtual worlds, defense, consumer society, and enterprise sales,” Dumar said in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with Jon, Mark, and the entire Ascent Capital Partners team and to welcome them at OVA as a pre-seed investor as we are building StellarX, our world content creation tool for the open metaverse. With that funding, we’re looking for more superstars to join the team.”
OVA is a pioneer in AI-enabled immersive software technology development. It works with industry leaders from around the world who are looking to transform their business with spatial and immersive computing, AI, augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality.
OVA said it is re-creating virtual reality for trusted industry giants such as Lockheed Martin, Nikon, Bombardier, and the Royal Canadian Navy. It also works in close collaboration with top academic ecosystems to develop cutting-edge solutions that democratize XR, the company said.
StellarX, its powerful content creation tool, empowers anyone to create their own immersive environments and simulations, OVA said.
‘A tech disrupter’
Loeffler said that OVA is a tech disruptor.
“OVA sits on the edge of cutting innovation in technology and, we believe, they are currently changing how multinational corporations approach virtual reality and its ability to enable a more immersive training experience,” he said in a statement. “Our involvement with OVA has evolved into a partnership and we appreciate all the work they do to create collaborative spaces for select corporations.”
Pomeroy added: “We’re excited to step forward with Harold and his team of innovators, designers, and creatives.”
Ascent Ventures said that it focuses on selecting investments with both cutting-edge technology and groundbreaking teams that manifest a high degree of trust and determination. Ascent said in OVA, it has found both.
“At Ascent, we invest our capital in people,” Loeffler, the Southlake-based Ascent managing director, said in a LinkedIn post. Ascent said that OVA has a talented team of professionals and creatives who it believes will take StellarX, creative virtual meeting spaces, and collaborative work areas to the next level.
Ascent said that other notable collaborators of StellarX are META, Dell, NVIDIA, Microsoft for Startups, VIVEX, and ScaleAI.
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