Virtual reality social platform startup AltspaceVR, Inc. has raised $10.3 million in additional funding in a round that included Tencent, Dolby Family Ventures, Raine Ventures Lux Capital, Western Technology Investments, Maven Ventures, Promus Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, Rothenberg Ventures, and Comcast Ventures.

Founded in 2013, AltspaceVR brings two-dimensional web content into shared virtual spaces, an extension of the web that aims to create a fully holographic experience.

Sort of similar to a collaborative workspace but in virtual reality, the company provides, through software, the ability for users to watch streaming video, play games, and work together entirely within a virtual reality environment.

“We provide the most complete, effective, and fun way for people to be together when they are not in the same physical space” AltspaceVR claims.

Content and users for the platform is delivering are diverse, with the company saying that users in over 50 countries are now sharing a variety of experiences online including gaming, streaming content through popular platforms such as Netflix and Twitch, sporting and eSports tournaments, and business collaboration.

“We’re working hard to make AltspaceVR the most natural and fulfilling way to communicate online, and our new capital will help us get there faster,” Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AltspaceVR Eric Romo sad in a statement sent to SiliconANGLE. “We can’t wait to show our community some of the exciting new things we are building.”

Potential

If for some people who have been around a while the pitch and idea sounds familiar, it’s because it’s highly reminiscent of the pitch from Linden Labs, Inc. some years back for Second Life, but with properly immersive virtual reality thrown in for good measure.

Those who are even older again can remember the first virtual reality crazy of the 1990’s, which despite much promise at the time, then faltered out in short shrift.

The jury is still well and truly out on whether the second coming of virtual reality will be a success or not, but it is clear that many venture capitalists believe that this time around, complete with massive advancements in computing power, that virtual reality may take this time.

What AltspaceVR is offering is a practical, hands-on, potentially game-changing multi-faceted platform for users to do as they please, and let’s face it: open platforms that allow the users to decide the best way to do things do generally, in the long run, offer a superior product.

Including the new round AltspaceVR has raised $15.7 million to-date.

The company said it would use the new round to grow the AltspaceVR team and accelerate product development.

AltspaceVR is available for Oculus, Leap Motion, Microsoft Kinect, Mac and PC desktops, and 3D TV.

Image credit: 50848856@N02/Flickr/CC by 2.0