VRTech raises $5 million to fund virtual reality startups in Russia and Asian countries

Two figures of the Russian digital industry — Georgiy Tushinsky, founder of Digital October and of several controversial music content projects, and Igor Luts, founder of BBDO Moscow, co-founder of The Untitled fund and a former Yandex marketing executive — have teamed up to launch a venture fund dedicated to virtual reality projects, according to RBC.

The common investment fund, dubbed ‘VRTech,’ will amount to over 300 million rubles (a little less than $5 million at the current exchange rate). The initiative may look modest in comparison with some foreign analogs — as exemplified by HTC’s recent $100 million VR fund — but Tushinsky says that it will attract additional funds depending on the size and number of projects.

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The fund will be seeking projects in Russia, the USA, Europe and Asia. In 2016, the founders plan to invest in three to five start-ups – 10 to 30 million rubles in each of them ($155,000-$470,000 at the current exchange rate).

VRTech will be selecting projects oriented on business efficiency improvement in various fields – including such traditional ones as oil extraction, and entertainment technologies like sporting broadcasts and interactive excursions.

Using virtual-reality technologies, hence eliminating costs of creating real products, a business can scale up its profit by 30%, believes Tushinsky.

This post first appeared on East-West Digital News.