Infinite Reality acquires Obsess, strengthening its position in the immersive technology market

Infinite Reality, an innovation company powering the next generation of digital media and e-commerce through augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and other immersive technologies, announced its final acquisition of Obsess, a virtual platform and market leader in immersive commerce technologies. We have signed a contract. The purchase price was not disclosed. This follows Infinite Reality’s $3 billion funding announcement on January 8, bringing the company’s current valuation to $12.25 billion.

$3 billion funding round from private investors with portfolios focused on investing in global technology and real estate, fast-growing immersion expected to reach nearly $1 trillion by 2030 Co-founder John Akunto said the company recognized a huge opportunity in the mold technology market. CEO of Infinite Reality.

“Obsess’ impressive track record of successfully building 3D virtual stores for major brands is proof of the great opportunities ahead,” said Akunto. “Obsess CEO Neha Singh and her talented team are committed to upgrading our ancient 2D web grid to improve our clients’ e-commerce KPIs and delight customers with more engaging, dynamic, and personalized experiences. We share the same vision.”

Founded by Singh in 2017, Obsess’ proprietary platform has revolutionized digital retail across many sectors, including beauty, fashion, food and beverage, and media and entertainment. Obsess has powered 400 virtual stores and digital experiences for brands such as Ralph Lauren, elf Cosmetics, Benefit, Crate & Barrel, L’Oréal, and Disney Music Group.

Singh, a former Google software engineer and former head of product at Vogue, has joined Infinite Reality as chief innovation officer. “The acquisition will allow us to continue our mission, pursue more brands and further develop our technology,” she said.

Obsess transforms 2D websites into immersive spaces and adds the power of artificial intelligence to optimize sales and ultimately positively impact profits. Akunto and Singh said they are excited about the potential of AI to enable the creation and distribution of virtual experiences.

Infinite Reality’s iR Studio is a low-code, no-code platform that allows brands with an internet connection to access the company’s 3D engine and create 3D websites from scratch without the need for coding skills. It will be. “While we are proud of the major projects we do with global enterprise clients, we are excited to extend our platform to any brand or creator who wants to create, monetize, and own their data. I’m also very excited about expanding the division. That’s it,” Akunto said.

“One of our challenges is aligning different teams across the brand on what a 3D virtual experience should be,” Singh says. “It’s very visual, very complex, very creative, so it takes time. We want to make sure we capture the essence and storytelling of the brand.

Currently, it takes Obsess two to three months to launch a virtual store or virtual experience after starting a partnership with a brand. AI will cut initial ideation time in half and eventually allow virtual experience designs to be generated and created entirely in 3D. “That’s not entirely possible yet,” Singh said. “AI is great at generating text, images, and now video. 3D is kind of the next frontier.”

AI also reduces the effort required to maintain virtual stores, which currently must be manually merchandised and updated. Ultimately, AI will reduce the level of effort to create and maintain virtual experiences, enabling scale and growth of virtual experiences in the growing immersive technology market.

Obsess has demonstrated the ability to deploy branded projects across multiple platforms, from web browsers to games like Roblox to next-generation devices like Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest.

Gamification has exploded in popularity over the past few years and is a big part of Obsess’ business. Gen Z spends more time on Roblox than Instagram and Tik Tok combined, Singh said, adding that “every customer is purchasing the gamification module on our platform.” That’s because when gamification is part of the experience, we see much higher engagement, time spent, and purchase rates. ”

Infinite Reality’s vision of enabling accessible, device-independent immersive experiences aligns perfectly with Obsess’ proven ability to deploy branded projects across multiple platforms.

“We don’t intend to design some fantastical algorithm or other barrier that can stand between brands and customers. We are excited about the power of AI to aggregate data points, giving brands access to data they never had before,” said Akunto. “Together with Obsess, we will continue to build out our analytics suite and provide our customers with powerful and differentiated data capabilities designed around highly engaging and immersive experiences.”