Virtual reality technology company VirZOOM, Inc. received $1.8 million in initial funding from the iTulip Investment Group, a 20,000 member global online economics and financial markets investor community founded in 1998.

'We are excited to bring together a seasoned technology and business team to launch a radically new form of entertainment into the virtual reality applications wave that we expect to arrive in 2016'

The cash will finance the commercialization phase of VR technology developed by the founding team over the preceding year.

'We are excited to bring together a seasoned technology and business team to launch a radically new form of entertainment into the virtual reality applications wave that we expect to arrive in 2016,' said Co-Founder and CEO Eric Janszen.

'VirZOOM is a thrilling, immersive virtual reality platform that draws users in with their own activity. Our patent pending motion control technology lets our customers enjoy fantastical active experiences without the drawbacks of motion in other VR experiences,' said Co-Founder and CTO Eric Malafeew.

Eric Malafeew, formerly Chief Architect at Harmonix, brings more than 20 years of experience in game engineering and design, as well as robotics control systems engineering. At VirZOOM he leads a development team comprised of key creative minds behind popular game products including Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Wii Remote Controller. He holds advanced degrees from Virginia Tech and MIT.

Janszen brings more than 20 years of product management and sales executive experience in the high technology industry to VirZOOM. Formerly CEO of two venture-backed start-ups, he is the creator of and President of wed-based finance and economics community iTulip, Inc. and Chairman of TruTouch Technologies. The iTulip Investor Group has invested more than $35 million in a range of funds and start-ups since 2010.

VirZOOM, Inc. is a Cambridge, Massachusetts based start-up that develops unique active VR applications.