Not willing to let giants monopolize! "Virtual office" platform Gather secures $50 million in funding to develop the metaverse

With tech giants like Facebook and Microsoft entering the metaverse market, the "virtual office" platform Gather, which gained popularity during the pandemic due to remote work, presented their vision for the metaverse on April 4th. Recently, Gather also raised $50 million in Series B funding to support further development costs.

We're beyond excited to share that we've raised a $50M Series B led by @sequoia and @IndexVentures, along with a number of amazing investors. Read more about what we're building and come join us! https://t.co/NWDTdbIIA1

— Gather (@gather_town) November 3, 2021

What is Gather?

Benefiting from remote work, the "virtual office" platform Gather, as the name suggests, allows users and work partners to create their own exclusive 2D private office. Users can also build the desired map on the platform, including social occasions, meeting rooms, classrooms, and more. Each user initially creates a character, through which they can interact with other people in the office.

While most people see Gather as an online office platform, it is more than that. Users can also use Gather to create online events such as interviews, seminars, workshops, and even build a virtual amusement park, museum, and escape room.

Sequoia Capital Leads Investment in Metaverse Development

In March of this year, Gather completed a $26 million Series A financing. Recently, with the leading investment from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Dylan Field, and other venture capital companies, it completed a $50 million Series B financing to be used for developing the metaverse.

According to a report by FastCompany, Gather founder Phillip Wang sees Gather as part of the current trend of building the metaverse, but his vision of the metaverse differs from other tech giants developing it. He hopes to have interoperability with other metaverse developers' platforms through an open standard. In other words, he is not limited to creating a metaverse exclusively for Gather but is willing to collaborate and exchange with other development companies.

Furthermore, Gather will continue to maintain its pixelated style in future developments, allowing people to easily access it through a browser and create a more expansive virtual space, rather than using high-tech technologies like virtual reality (VR) that are not easily accessible to the general public.

"We have chosen a visual style that is easy for people to use and are committed to making Gather accessible to a wide range of users," said Phillip Wang.