More money for virtual worlds

Metaversum GmbH raises €4.5 Million to build new cities for Twinity

People are having a blast with their alter egos in virtual worlds across the web.   If you’re not too familiar with the genre, you might be stuck under the impression that virtual worlds are all about swords and spells.  Well, not exactly.

Metaversum GmbH, developer of a virtual world which keeps away from the typical fantasy feel of the genre, has raised €4.5 Million in VC funding, according to a report by peHUB.   BFB BeteiligungsFonds Brandenburg and KfW led the round and were joined by return backers Balderton Capital and Grazia Equity. 

The game is called Twinity, with its tagline, “powered by real life.”  Basically, the company is trying to replicate actual cities across the globe.  Currently, it has built a working replica of Berlin that allows users to create a virtual avatar, build a digital home, and meet other live players – these features are familiar to games like Second Life and IMVU, although those massive multiplayer RPGs don’t attempt to replicate actual cities.

Twinity is a free game, thus hoping to attract a massive user-base to take a part in its business model, which seems to be based on virtual businesses and advertising.  Berlin based, Metaversum says its vision is to develop a close connection between the real and virtual world.  It would like to offer its platform for businesses to create virtual shops in its cities.  The company also plans to offer in-world ad campaigns, product placements and sponsored events.  

With this round of funding, Twinity is looking for some international expansion.  The company is building several new cities including a replica of Singapore set to launch at the end of summer along with a virtual London.

If you’re a Mac OSX user, forget it, the game only runs on Windows based operating systems.

Virtual worlds are of interest to investors.  Earlier this year, Tribal Nova raised $2 million and IMVU raised $10 million in VC funding.