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Facebook to acquire the maker of virtual-reality headset

Facebook to acquire the maker of virtual-reality headset

Posted March. 27, 2014 02:36,   

한국어

A venture firm co-founded by a 21-year-old engineer has been acquired by Facebook at more than 803 times its seed money.

According to major U.S. media on Tuesday, Facebook has decided to acquire Oculus VR at 2 billion U.S. dollars, which includes 400 million dollars in cash. Oculus VR makes virtual reality head-mounted systems. Early this year, Facebook took over mobile messaging firm WhatsApp at 19 billion dollars.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the company`s official blog, "I`m excited to announce that we`ve agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences." Industry sources say the system will be applied not only in games but also in medical counseling and remote education areas.

Oculus VR was founded by Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe, current CEO, by raising 2.4 million dollars in venture capital funding through crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. Luckey, who calls himself a virtual reality enthusiast, was homeschooled growing up, and began his career in the IT sector as an iPhone repairer. Oculus VR has around 100 employees.