IMVU. Inc Accelerates Growth With $35M+ Investment From Structural Capital, NetEase, And Others, Relaunches As Together Labs

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IMVU Inc. announced a strategic  round of investment of more than $35 million from Structural Capital, NetEase inc, one of China's leading internet and online game services providers, and other investors. The investment will be used to fund product development and other initiatives to address the company's growing businesses, which includes IMVU, the world's largest avatar social platform and WithMe Entertainment, a new user-generated platform in development for friendship and shared experiences.

The investment comes as IMVU Inc. reformed under the new parent company name Together Labs, focusing on creating products that redefine social media as a catalyst for authentic human connections. This formation positions Together Labs as a leader and innovator in technologies that empower people worldwide to connect with friends, find community, and create peer to peer economies.

"With IMVU's accelerating growth over recent years, the launch of VCOIN, and the  development of the new WithMe platform, we felt timing was right to bring all of these products under a new roof to reinforce our commitment for creating authentic human connections in virtual spaces," said Daren Tsui, Chief Executive Officer at Together Labs. "We appreciate the confidence this major investment represents led by NetEase and other investors. The formation of Together Labs, is a new chapter for the company allowing us to aggressively pursue our vision of immersive social metaverses where authentic friendship and peer to peer  commerce thrive."

In 2020, IMVU saw record growth and engagement with over 7 million monthly active users. The app also saw a record 400,000 products created every month by IMVU users last year. Coming later, WithMe is a new mobile platform that empowers social connection through shared experiences in virtual spaces. Together Labs also owns VCOIN, which was launched earlier this month and enables users to buy, gift, earn and, for the first time, transfer a digital asset off the IMVU platform to convert it to fiat.

"Together Labs is perfectly positioned for explosive growth in a new entertainment genre that sits at the cross section between social media and gaming," said Kai Tse, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Structural Capital. "We are impressed with IMVU's growing business and believe new initiatives such as VCOIN and WithMe will propel Together Labs to become a dominant player in the social gaming and interactive entertainment era."

In 2020, IMVU, Inc. was recognized as a winner of the 2020 Bay Area Best Places To Work, an awards program presented by the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. To learn more about open job opportunities, please visit the careers website.

About Together Labs
Based in Silicon Valley, Together Labs (formally IMVU Inc.) is a leading technology company dedicated to empowering people to connect, create and earn in virtual worlds. Together Labs' products represent the changing landscape of social interaction and redefine human connection. With IMVU, the world's largest avatar social platform and a top-5 grossing app in the App Store, millions of users can customize their characters through a growing catalog of 50 million community created items and explore over 400,000+ destinations to connect to each other. Setting the standard for the use of digital currencies in the metaverse, VCOIN unlocks the full potential of virtual economies and solves the unmet need for easy and secure global peer-to-peer payment. Currently in development, WithMe is a new mobile platform that empowers social connection through shared experiences in virtual spaces.

About NetEase, Inc.
As a leading internet technology company based in China, NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES; HKEX: 9999) is dedicated to providing premium online services centered around innovative and diverse content, community, communication and commerce. NetEase develops and operates some of China's most popular mobile and PC-client games. In more recent years, NetEase has expanded into international markets including Japan and North America. In addition to its self-developed game content, NetEase partners with other leading game developers, such as Blizzard Entertainment and Mojang AB (a Microsoft subsidiary), to operate globally renowned games in China. NetEase's other innovative service offerings include the intelligent learning services of its majority-controlled subsidiary, Youdao (NYSE: DAO); music streaming through its leading NetEase Cloud Music business; and its private label e-commerce platform, Yanxuan. For more information, please visit: http://ir.netease.com.

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SOURCE IMVU, Inc.