Sandbox VR Raises $11M With Help of Celebrity Backers

Sandbox VR already had the backing of famous VCs, but now it has Hollywood A-listers as investors.

Yesterday, Sandbox announced an $11 million funding round led by David Sacks of Craft Ventures and the Andreessen Horowitz Cultural Leadership Fund. Normally I wouldn't list the other investors...but they include Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Will Smith, Orlando Bloom, Kevin Durant, Japanese soccer player Honda Keisuke, and former superagent Michael Ovitz.

Ok, back to the company

The three-year-old startup has raised $83 million to date. It uses motion capture, advanced VR hardware, and large green rooms to create virtual games and journeys.

• Existing locations: Hong Kong, Jakarta, Macau, Singapore, the Bay Area, Vancouver, and LA.
• Up next: NYC, San Diego, Chicago, Dallas, and Austin.

Big picture: Consumer VR is having a tough go, but that doesn't mean there's not a business play in retail experiences.