UK virtual reality technology research firm Cooperative Innovations has raised over £500k ($653k) in funding.

The investment round was sourced from Ascension Ventures, Trend Investment Group and angel investor Craig Fletcher.

The funds will be used to expand Cooperative Innovations’ team, further push its technology research and fund development on the company’s VR MMORPG Raiders of Erda.

Moving right along

Cooperative Innovations’ current focus is Ikabod - an animation solution for animating a players’ body in VR experiences. In addition to finding funds, the firm announced that it is currently on the lookout for licensing partners for the technology.

“Securing this investment really allows us to scale-up the studio and continue to build on our core technologies and tools,” said CEO and co-founder Simon Barratt.

“We’re passionate about immersive experiences as the future of work, life and play, and we’re excited about the opportunity to grow the team, continue our R&D, and release some of our original IP too.”

Fellow co-founder and CTO Brian Marshall added: “Ikabod came about as we needed a full IK solution that was fast enough to use on every character while embracing easy-of-use and artistic expression. Nothing available did everything we needed, so we made it ourselves. We can’t wait to get Ikabod into the hands of more developers and creatives.

“Being able to now launch this pilot licensing programme, we’re able to really push the system in-the-wild and continue to improve it into the future. We look forward to hearing from any developers interested in a demo.”