Penrose Studios Raises $10M in Series A Funding

San Francisco-based Virtual and Augmented Reality Startup Continues to Climb with Prominent Investors

SAN FRANCISCO, July 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Penrose Studios, the creator of award-winning virtual reality entertainment, today announces the close of its Series A funding, led by TransLink Capital.

In addition to TransLink, the financing round includes a number of new and returning investors. New investor partners of the studio include entrepreneur and SalesForce founder and CEO Marc Benioff, Grammy-award winning artist and VR creator will.i.am, Korea Telecom and Co-Made. Returning investors include Sway Ventures, 8VC, and Suffolk Equity.

Since the company's historic seed funding announcement in March 2016, Penrose Studios launched a new series, Arden's Wake, which includes two installments, The Prologue and Tide's Fall.  Arden's Wake: The Prologue premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2017 and received the top Lion award from Venice Film Festival for Best VR. The second piece of the series, Arden's Wake: Tide's Fall, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in April and features Academy Award-winning actress Alicia Vikander and world-renowned actor Richard Armitage.

Images & Additional Information: Penrose Studios Photo Assets

In addition to bridging the gap between Hollywood and VR, the team also actively participates in tech and film innovation, as well as VR industry events around the world. Penrose was featured at the Goldman Sachs Tech Conference 2016 in Hong Kong and at Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference 2017. The studio was named a Tech Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, featured at both Davos and Dalian, China. Penrose Studios was a content launch partner for HTC Vive and won recognition at the Viveport Developer Awards 2016 in Beijing for their first feature length piece, Allumette ("艾露美").

"In what is still an early form of storytelling and entertainment, the Penrose team has cracked the formula to create VR stories and experiences everyone can enjoy," said Jay Eum, co-founder and managing director at TransLink Capital. "The company's unique technology paired with the beauty of its work speaks for itself. We're proud to work with the team and Penrose leadership to bring more VR entertainment to audiences around the world, especially in Asia."  

"VR continues to be a breakthrough form of entertainment for all ages," said Eugene YK Chung, Penrose Studios founder and CEO. "As we participate in taking this new form of storytelling to the next level, we're proud to work with a great group of partners and investors to help us get there and continue to stand out and keep our momentum within the industry."

Capital from the Series A will fund continued development of VR and AR movies and experiences and provide Penrose Studios the necessary resources to continue to grow, innovate and continue creating critically-acclaimed content for the growing number of VR headset users around the world.

For more information about Penrose Studios, visit www.penrosestudios.com or follow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

About Penrose Studios
Penrose Studios is the world's foremost independent virtual and augmented reality film production studio. It creates award-winning fully-immersive computer-generated (CG) worlds that are experienced through captivating stories and full freedom of movement. The San Francisco-based startup is known for its unprecedented innovation in virtual and augmented reality storytelling that liberates the imagination and rekindles a sense of wonder. The company's mission is to define the next generation of human storytelling, and through its work, continues to push the boundaries of entertainment through immersive experiences that explore universal themes such as family, love, loss, fear and sacrifice. Penrose Studios was founded in 2015 by Eugene YK Chung, previously Head of Film & Media at Oculus VR, which was later acquired by Facebook for $2.3 billion. The company's leadership and staff include pioneers and veterans from many of the motion picture industry's largest studios.www.penrosestudios.com

Contact: Jessica Douglas, jessica.douglas@penrosestudios.com