Dublin-based WarDucks gets $1.5million investment

Virtual reality game developers WarDucks is on the receiving end of an $1.5m investment following a round led by Suir Valley Ventures. The team, pictured above, who is based in Dublin, Ireland, are working mostly on VR games but have also had experience in iOS and Android game development.

The funds, which also include Enterprise Ireland with other private investors, will see the studio grow and launch more products internationally. The studio’s leading game, Sneaky Bears, reached the top 25 of the top selling charts for Samsung Gear VR. A full length game will be coming to PSVR and Oculus Rift, with the Vive release coming shortly after. A second game, Sneaky Bears Rollercoaster also performed well in the Gear VR charts.

“Virtual Reality will increasingly become part of the fabric of our everyday lives and gaming is pioneering this as we speak," said WarDucks CEO, Nikki Lannen. "Our Sneaky Bears brand has already performed extremely well on mobile VR platforms, however our move now to more sophisticated hardware, including PlayStation, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive marks an important step for WarDucks.”

The investment will see Toby Raincock, the CEO of Shard Capital, join the board. Shard Capital is a London-based independent financial sales company who have been investing in the South East of Ireland, along with Suir Valley Ventures. The pair, along with Enterprise Ireland has been involved in the Suir Valley Venture Fund with is investing €20million into early-stage software companies. This includes VR and AR start ups, as reported bySilicon Republic back in February.

The head of the fund and managing partner at Suir Valley Ventures, Barry Downes, previously invested in Immersive VR Education, a studio that produced the Apollo 11 VR Experience. “VR is an area of enormous opportunity and potential and we remain keen to increase our exposure to this market and become a leading investor in the expanding industry," said Downes. "We see Dublin based WarDucks as a great example of the type of games studio that is going to be hugely successful in the VR industry and are looking forward to working with Nikki and her team to support them grow the company rapidly and launch unique products worldwide.”

We hope this means more treats for Morale K9 Officer, Fred who is pictured at the centre of the team photo.

Thanks to TheVirtualReport.Biz for highlighting the news.