HTC launches ENGAGE as VIVE Sessions in China

RNS Number : 5253C

VR Education Holdings PLC

20 October 2020

 

20 October 2020

VR Education Holdings plc

('VR Education' or the 'Group')

HTC and VRE launch ENGAGE platform as VIVE Sessions in China

VR Education Holdings plc (AIM: VRE; Euronext Growth: 6VR), a leading virtual reality ('VR') technology company in the education, communication and virtual events space, is pleased to announce that HTC Corporation ('HTC'), a global leader in VR technology and equipment and a strategic partner of the Group, has today launched ENGAGE in China, reselling the platform as VIVE Sessions.  This new service will focus on large-scale conferences, exhibitions and educational events in China and HTC will provide all the necessary enterprise sales, support and marketing in the region.

The VIVE XR Suite, which includes VIVE Sessions and is being launched globally, is an enterprise-focused integrated VR software bundle of applications which enable users to stay productive and collaborate, even when physically apart, via PCs, phones, tablets and most major VR devices. The virtual launch event held earlier today was conducted in the VIVE Sessions application where thousands of attendees joined in avatar form from around the world. HTC announced that Accenture will be a distribution partner for the XR Suite to their clients globally.

The VIVE XR Suite is comprised of applications designed to meet the challenges of working, learning and living remotely. This integrated bundle provides a collection of solutions for real-time collaboration, virtual events, and life-like communication using the latest spatial computing technology which enables users to feel like they are having a shared experience with others in a virtual space.

On 20 May 2020, the Group announced a significant investment from HTC who now hold a circa 20% stake in VR Education.  On the same date HTC also signed a distribution and license agreement with the Group, for an initial four year period, appointing HTC as the Group's exclusive distributor throughout the Greater China Region (being, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China) and as its non-exclusive distributor for the Global Region (being the world, excluding the Greater China Region).  Under the terms of the agreement, HTC agreed to pay a percentage of net revenue as collected by HTC in the Greater China Region.

David Whelan, CEO of VR Education, said: "We have been working closely with HTC's China team over the past six months extensively testing the Chinese deployment of VIVE Sessions. With so many challenges in acceptance for European developed software to be deployed into the Chinese market, we are delighted to be working with HTC as our partner which has made this difficult task possible.

"China is one of the world's largest markets and a leader in XR adoption. Having ENGAGE services available for Chinese users under the VIVE brand and a robust HTC sales and marketing team with a fantastic track record for enterprise sales will help create additional revenues for the Group going forward. We have seen high demand for ENGAGE services globally because of Covid-19 concerns and we hope to see significant demand in China for VIVE Sessions.  We believe that ENGAGE will have broader appeal to Asian users who are typically quicker to adopt new technologies.

"The Chinese release of ENGAGE is a major milestone for the Group and something that is rare for a medium sized business like us. Our aim is to become the dominant next generation global communications platform, and this is one step towards us achieving that goal.  This additional revenue stream from working with HTC will take a little time to mature, however, we believe it sets solid foundations for both companies as we grow the XR space together."

Alvin W. Graylin, Global SW BU Head/China President HTC, said: "VR Education has been a great partner in working together with us as a core part of the VIVE XR Suite.  We have done multiple major events and projects together in the ENGAGE/VIVE Sessions platform in prior months and look forward to transitioning to selling it into the Enterprise market as a key piece of our solution to enable more productive remote work and remote learning globally in the new normal we all live in now.   It is a platform with unique capabilities that is well suited to the needs of the market going forward."

Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC, said: "Applying technology to solve real-world problems has always been a core tenet of our philosophy at HTC. The VIVE XR Suite offers the ultimate VR enterprise software solution, specifically designed to help businesses solve today's most pressing problems in a secure and innovative way. By putting the resources of HTC behind these apps, we can ensure business customers around the world receive the system scalability and professional support they demand."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

- Ends -

For further information, please contact:

VR Education Holdings plc David Whelan, CEO Sandra Whelan, COO	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nominated Adviser) James Caithie / Liam Murray / Ludovico Lazzaretti	Tel: [phone]
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Damon Heath / Erik Woolgar	Tel: [phone]
Davy (Joint Broker & Euronext Growth Advisor) Fergal Meegan / Ronan Veale / Barry Murphy	Tel: [phone]
Buchanan (Financial PR) Henry Harrison-Topham / Chris Lane / Tilly Abraham	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

Notes to Editors

VR Education, together with its wholly owned subsidiary, is an early stage VR software and technology group based in Waterford, Ireland, dedicated to transforming the delivery methods of education and corporate training by utilising VR technologies to deliver fully immersive virtual learning experiences.  The Group's core focus is the development and commercialisation of its online virtual social learning and presentation platform called ENGAGE, which provides a platform for creating, sharing and delivering proprietary and third-party VR content for educational and corporate training purposes.

In addition to the ongoing development of the ENGAGE platform, the Group has also built two downloadable showcase VR experiences, being the award-winning Apollo 11 VR experience and the Titanic VR experience.

On 12 March 2018, VR Education listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and on the Enterprise Securities Market, a market regulated by Euronext Dublin.  For further information, please visit www.vreducationholdings.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Group's current expectations, estimates, and projections about its industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as 'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Group's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements.

The Group cautions security holders and prospective security holders not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Group only as of the date of this announcement. The forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Group will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority.

 

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