Top 10 Companies Investing In The Metaverse

How To Invest In The Metaverse

Immersive Hardware‍‍

To immerse yourself in the Metaverse, the virtual world must be compatible with hardware such as VR headsets; these will incorporate your senses of sight and sound. But, there is haptic tech out there that uses other senses, such as touch.

3D Creation Software

‍Creating the Metaverse to look realistic and 3D will be a huge challenge. Still, software companies are already building developer solutions such as Unity Software and NVIDIA, making it easier for developers to create picturesque and lifelike worlds.

Interactive Platforms

‍When we talk about interactive platforms, we mean virtual worlds; Decentraland, Sandbox, and eventually Meta's very own Metaverse are all interactive platforms that allow you to hang out with friends, buy, sell and build digital assets, and live a virtual life.

Connectivity

The Metaverse is growing its user base daily, bringing high demands for lighting fast connection speeds. As more strain builds, people will look for the best, fastest performing Wifi networks and devices. Starlink could be a good option for gaining exposure to this area of Metaverse investing. With its world-renowned GPU technology, NVIDIA could be another option for investors.

Security

A somewhat obvious investment option would be exposure to advanced security technology. People are beginning to hold value in digital assets, online banking, and online exchanges. Security will be a huge consideration for people, and no doubt they'll not be afraid to splash the cash to keep their assets safe and private.

Power

Similar to connectivity, the power requirements to operate the Metaverse will be huge. Investing in fast and efficient power options would be a reasonable move. The data created from the Metaverse also has to be stored somewhere; cloud storage technology would be a suitable option to store this data.

Ten Companies Investing In The Metaverse

1) Meta

Meta (formally Facebook) has high ambitions for its future Metaverse after committing resources to employ 10,000 new 'Metamates' to build its virtual reality.

The pivot to virtual reality cost an initial investment of $50 million and is said to take up to 15 years before the fruits of their labor peek through.

The tech giant has also invested up to $10 billion in acquiring VR technology and has plans to invest in AR technology to build out their virtual world capabilities; after acquiring Oculus, they really ramped up on their Metaverse plans.

With their plans expected to take up to 15 years, they're in this for the long haul and not just using the Metaverse buzzword to distract from their recent scandals as Facebook.

Whether they can outplay current competitors that are focused on the Blockchain metaverse is a different question.

Currently, in Q1 of 2022, the Metaverse division of Meta has lost $3 billion. That's an impressive burn rate.

2) Google

Back in 2014, Google was ahead of the curve by introducing their Google glasses, a piece of wearable AR technology that would support the day-to-day of the average human.

They were essentially laughed out of the room by the world, but the day has come for them to revisit the idea. Not to mention there were a lot of privacy concerns with the Google Glass as it had built-in video recording capabilities, which is a dangerous precedent in the realm of security and privacy.

Under CEO Sundar Puchai, they have discussed the possibility of mapping the Metaverse and implementing current services such as YouTube into virtual worlds. Google has also invested a hefty $39.5 million into a fund that invests directly into Metaverse projects.

Could 2022 be the year that Google Glass is brought back? We have to be honest, they're pretty cool, but there are some big questions to answer with privacy concerns.

3) Microsoft

Undoubtedly one of the most exciting companies to be looking to invest in the Metaverse is Microsoft; it's been at the forefront of technological advancement since its founding.

The tech giant had recently closed a deal to buy Activision Blizzard, possibly positioning itself to build out its play-to-earn capabilities and eventually enter the Metaverse ecosystem.

Microsoft is also working on their Holoportation technology, which is immersive and interactive experiences built inside mixed reality apps.

This basically allows someone to jump into virtual reality as themselves rather than creating an avatar; you'll teleport into the virtual world as a photorealistic version of yourself.

4) NVIDIA

NVIDIA is the worlds leading GPU developer and produces the tech for laptops, gaming consoles, PCs, laptops, and even cryptocurrency mining rigs.

As you could imagine, the company is quite rightly positioning itself for the Metaverse boom that will happen over the next few years; with more equipment, technology, and innovation being made, the demand for more advanced GPUs will rise, and NVIDIA will want to be at the forefront of that.

NVIDIA is currently developing its Omniverse tool that supports developers in building their applications; it's a development platform for 3D simulations and design. They're also planning on developing applications to allow you to create realistic avatars for the Metaverse.

5) Unity Software

Unity Software is most likely the best-positioned company on this list to pivot and take advantage of the Metaverse boom.

Unity currently powers 71% of the top 1000 mobile games and 50% of all PC and console games, with roughly 5 billion of the world's devices having Unity-designed software installed; those are some impressive figures.

The opportunity here for Unity is not to build their own Metaverse but to build connections between all of these devices, applications, and games to be interoperable, which in theory is a Metaverse.

Unity Software has also acquired Weta Digital, a VFX company that cost them $1.6 billion; this acquisition will help build out their RT3D (real-time 3D) technology, which will most likely be used in many Metaverse applications to bring a more real-life experience to the virtual universe.

6) ROBLOX

The Roblox Metaverse is already here. It currently has 10 million users building on its platform, and with the buzzword Metaverse, people often confuse this as needing to have some sort of Blockchain or VR, AR feature.

When in fact, the Metaverse is more about the realm of possibility and opportunity open to users. Meaning, can you create your own events? Can you flawlessly build a world where someone is DJ'ing in one room and in another, you're playing poker with your fellow avatar friends?

If so, Roblox is already there. Roblox has built itself into a massive community of creators and allows them to socialize within the 24 million different events and worlds built by its own community members.

7) Tinder

Everyone's favorite dating app, Tinder, is entering a relationship with the Metaverse.

Tinder said this in a letter to shareholders: "an interface which allows users to connect with others through new experiences beyond the Swipe that used to be Tinder," Shar Dubey, CEO of Tinder's parent company Match Group, said on an investor call earlier this month. The company is also rolling out its own coins — Tinder Coins — which are currently being tested in several markets, including a few markets in Europe.

"Coins can also be used to incentivize certain behaviors to help members make more meaningful connections on Tinder, such as verifying their profile or adding video to their bio. And, perhaps most importantly, Coins will be essential for the virtual goods and trading ecosystem planned for 2022 and beyond,".

They're also testing out a new concept on a few college campuses in South Korea that allows users to meet in an area called Singletown and interact as avatars using real-time audio, and you can hang out in virtual bars, parks, and much more with your date.

8) Shopify

Shopify has recently launched the new AR/3D shopping feature, which allows business owners to create 3D AR versions of their products. The company recently partnered with UK-based AR platform Poplar Studio to offer the service for $49 per month.

Shopify has also begun a beta version of their own NFT marketplace, you sign up, and it allows you to buy and sell NFTs. But, according to leaked documents, Meta is eyeing up the same plans for their own platform.

9) Epic Games

On April 13, 2021, Epic Games announced they had just completed a $1 billion funding round to invest further into the Metaverse.

Tim Sweeney, CEO, and Founder, of Epic Games, said: "We are grateful to our new and existing investors who support our vision for Epic and the Metaverse."

Their investment will help accelerate our work around building connected social experiences in Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys while empowering game developers and creators with Unreal Engine, Epic Online Services, and the Epic Games Store,".

10) Nike

Nike began their Metaverse expansion after acquiring the digital sneaker design studio RTFKT, which was founded back in 2020. The studio basically makes virtual sneakers, and Nike jumped at the chance to board the Metaverse hype train.

Nike also has a virtual store within the Roblox Metaverse called Nikeland, which has attracted over 7 million people from over 200 countries. They're currently selling their Nike branded virtual sneakers for over $100,000 and will most likely launch clothing apparel in the near future.