Why is it no surprise that financial literati and top-notch analysts predict the Metaverse’s projected revenue to reach more than $800 billion (Bloomberg), all the way up to $13 trillion by 2030 (Citi)?
While these figures may be a little on the optimistic side, the numbers bandied about are indicative of where this thing called the “Metaverse” is headed.
Add to those statistics the global virtual reality market is projected to grow from $16.67 billion in 2022 to $227.34 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 45.2% in the forecast period 2022–2029, as per a report published on Fortune Business Insights, and a Research and Markets report predicts the global gaming market is expected to reach a value of $314.4 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 9.64% over 2021–2026, then you can understand why the financial prophecies are so upbeat.
Realizing they should get on board before the ship leaves the harbour, many of the big guns are staking their claim to the virtual land of the Metaverse and Web3, with acquisitions and the building out of their proprietary technology the name of the game.
We will now give you the lowdown of seven of the biggest companies investing in Metaverse, those corporations that don’t want to get caught off guard when the Metaverse is really here, replacing Web 2.0 with the new model.
7 Companies Investing In The Metaverse
1. Meta (Facebook)
According to The New York Times, Meta spent the tidy sum of $10 billion on the Metaverse last year — the downside to that spend was Meta’s quarterly profits took a hit, falling by some eight percent, to $10.3 billion.
All this came after last year’s announcement by Mark Zuckerberg, a virtual introduction video and all of which you can see here, of his company’s intention of building out its hardware and software IP, part of which is to provide VR capabilities within the Metaverse ecosystem.
With the Metaverse and Meta not going anywhere fast, look out for the House that Zuck built to become one of the leading players in the space, both in terms of investment and innovation.
2. Roblox
If you haven’t been living in the wilderness for the last few years, you should have heard of Roblox, the Metaverse gaming phenomenon that many children aged thirteen and under just love to play.
Offering many games under one platform, Roblox — created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 2006 under the umbrella Roblox Corporation — earns its revenue via the purchase of digital currency, called Robux. As of August 2020, Roblox had over 164 million monthly active users and was the third highest-grossing game of 2020, with a revenue of $2.29 billion, becoming at that point a valuable Metaverse stock.
The Roblox Corporation is an obvious candidate for a company that will go all out this decade and invest heavily in Metaverse.
3. Google
One of the main benefactors and enablers of Web 2.0, Google and the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, have on occasions talked about Google’s deep fascination in AR and its venture into the world of Web3. With the idea floating around to integrate YouTube and Google Maps into the exciting virtual paradigm, the Mountain View corporation founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin as a search engine in 1998 has invested close to $40 million in a private equity fund through Taipei-listed Ennoconn for all Metaverse projects.
Now, although that doesn’t seem a lot in the grand scheme of things, get set for Google to compete with the other big Metaverse investors in 2024 and beyond.
4. Shopify
Set up in 2008, Shopify Inc. is a Canadian multinational e-commerce company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, known for its proprietary e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems.
With stores and retail point-of-sale systems obviously not enough for the company founded by Tobias Lütke and Scott Lake, Shopify has now taken a keen interest in the Metaverse with the launch of its NFT platform allowing digital creators — the first of which is the Chicago Bulls — to sell art and other content directly to consumers. The second thing is its acquisition of the AR app Primer, allowing users to see the effects of a purchase or project in their space firsthand — a powerful tool that’ll allow subscribers to build-out shopping experiences and stores in the Metaverse.
With revenue that exceeds $4.5 billion as of 2021, expect Shopify to add to its acquisitions of companies disrupting Web3.
5. Nvidia
An American multinational technology company incorporated in Delaware and based in Santa Clara, California, Nvidia Corporation was founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Curtis Priem and Chris Malachowsky. Known for its design of graphics processing units (GPUs), application programming interface (APIs) for data science and high-performance computing as well as system on chip units (SoCs) for the mobile computing and automotive market, Nvidia began this year with the announcement that it would be granting free licenses for its Omniverse software to creative artists and others who would help them build virtual worlds for the Metaverse.
Already one of the top companies in gaming and 3D simulation, Nvidia’s executives see this as an investment in the Metaverse future rather than charity, and a chance for growth through grassroots movements.
6. Microsoft
A pioneer of home computing founded in the mid-1970s, Microsoft’s shift to the Metaverse ecosystem with its $70-billion acquisition of video game developer and publisher Activision Blizzard earlier this year is proof it wants to compete with the likes of Google and Meta for a piece of the Metaverse pie.
Like Google and Meta, Microsoft will be there or there about when the Metaverse really takes off.
7. Qualcomm
Qualcomm Ventures and its parent, Qualcomm, announced in March its new $100 million Snapdragon Metaverse Fund to invest in immersive experiences involving augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies as they relate to the Metaverse, following Google’s lead with its investment in Metaverse projects in Taiwan.
As per Qualcomm’s website, it is anticipated that the fund will deploy capital through a combination of venture investments in leading XR companies by Qualcomm Ventures and a grant program by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. for developer ecosystem funding in XR experiences such as gaming, health and wellness, media, entertainment, education, and enterprise.
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