We're excited to welcome Colopl Next, the corporate venture capital arm of Colopl, Inc., as an investor and sponsor in the Summer, 2018 batch of the Play Labs accelerator, being held at the MIT Game Lab on campus in Cambridge, MA.
Rizwan Virk, Executive Director of Play Labs, said: "We are fortunate to have the support of such an innovative company as Colopl with their history of successful games, to throw their support behind Play Labs. We believe that the ecosystem of around MIT has many entrepreneurs who can benefit from their association its venture arm, Colopl Next, and that this partnership can link Colopl Next with many creative entrepreneurs who are part of the Play Labs."
Shintaro Yamakami, CEO of Colopl Next, said: ""We are honored to work with Play Labs and the MIT Game Lab to explore next-generation entertainment and its underlying technology. Also, we are looking forward to collaborating with Play Labs partners including Seraph, VIVE, Theta Labs, and others."
The summer, 2018 batch of Play Labs includes a number of innovative startups that are using
"Playful Technology" in new ways, ranging from VR/AR to esports and blockchain applications.
ABOUT COLOPL NEXT
Colopl Next (https://www.coloplnext.co.jp/) is the corporate venture capital arm of Colopl Inc, a Japanese game developer. Operating several funds that account for a total of $100M+, each fund has a particular focus, such as young entrepreneurs, VR/AR, and emerging technologies. We make investments globally; in fact, more than half of our portfolio companies are based outside of Japan. With “Entertainment in Real Life” as our group’s mission, Colopl Next supports startups while utilizing Colopl’s knowledge and experiences of developing user-first products.
ABOUT PLAY LABS
Play Labs (www.playlabs.tv) is an incubator/accelerator which invests and mentors startups that are utilizing playful technology in a variety of industries. The span of playful technology includes Blockchain, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and esports. During the program, each cohort is mentored by a group of MIT staff as well from successful entrepreneurs, which include many MIT Alumni. Play Labs is hosted on the MIT Campus by the MIT Game Lab during the summer and the next batch will be summer, 2018.