Collaborative Virtual Reality Startup Gets Seed Funded
Glue Collaboration today announced that it has completed its seed round of financing, raising a total of €3.5 million to support its continued expansion as a leading virtual collaboration platform. 
The investment, led by Maki.vc, an early-stage venture capital fund, reflects Glue’s rapid advances in multi-user VR software as well as its ambition to become a leading global player in its field. Other investors included Reaktor Innovations, Bragiel Brothers and Foobar Technologies. Business Finland, the Finnish funding agency for technology and innovation, and OP Bank also provided funding for the development of Glue.
Glue is a cloud-based platform that facilitates virtual meetings between people around the world. Participants come together in an immersive, three-dimensional virtual space optimized for collaborative work. The experience is designed to serve as a powerful alternative to costly physical face-to-face meetings as well as overcome the limitations of audio or video calling systems where meetings are dimensionless and transient.
Glue breaks down the communication barriers that inhibit effective collaboration between dispersed teams by enabling people to feel they are truly present in the company of others: what they can see, hear, touch and manipulate combine to elicit the feeling that they are there with their teammates even when there is great physical distance between them. This promotes higher-quality interactions through which people can co-create, learn, or plan.
Jussi Havu, CEO at Glue Collaboration, said: “We are delighted that this group of leading technology investors believe in Glue and share our vision. We are now well positioned to accelerate the commercial phase of our growth and help organizations do business in a more productive and sustainable way.”
Ilkka Kivimäki, Partner at Maki.vc, said: “Providing the optimal setting for effective virtual collaboration is no easy undertaking, but we are excited about the progress Glue has made. The result is a platform that offers enormous potential for businesses serious about reducing travel and cutting their carbon footprint.”
Glue was founded in 2017 by Santtu Parikka and Juha Ruistola, who serve as, respectively, Glue’s CDO and CTO. The company has a 30-strong team of people, including software engineers, designers and business developers.
