(LONDON)
A UK startup developing ‘breakthrough technologies’ has been valued at more than $1 billion.
Improbable uses cloud-based distributed computing to enable the creation of large-scale virtual worlds in gaming and real world simulations. On Friday the company announced Japanese tech giant SoftBank is injecting over $500 million into the startup at a valuation of $1 billion.
“We believe that the next major phase in computing will be the emergence of large-scale virtual worlds which enrich human experience and change how we understand the real world. At Improbable we have spent the last few years building the foundational infrastructure for this vision,” said Herman Narula, CEO of Improbable.
SpatialOS, the company’s first product, is a distributed operating system that allows massive virtual worlds and simulations to be created using its technology. Improbable is now going to use the tech for developing simulations of real world systems. That could include things like testing the performance of self-driving vehicles in simulated real world conditions. But the potential applications are endless, from medical, internet of things, cybersecurity to city management – to name a few.
“Improbable is building breakthrough technologies that are becoming vital and valuable platforms for the global gaming industry. Beyond gaming, this new form of simulation on a massive scale has the potential to help us make better decisions about the world we live in. Improbable’s technology will help us explore disease, improve cities, understand economies and solve complex problems on a previously unimaginable scale, said Deep Nishar, managing director, SoftBank. “Along with Machine Learning and IoT, Improbable’s distributed computation technology represents a critical next frontier in computing.”
