đź’Metaverse and VR Funding Declines Despite Apple’s Vision Pro Launch
Metaverse and VR startup funding has hit a multi-year low, with only $758 million raised this year as consumer interest wanes. Even Apple’s Vision Pro struggled with slow sales, possibly halting production due to its high price tag and limited consumer integration. As companies like Meta and Apple explore cheaper alternatives, the future of immersive wearable devices hinges on accessibility and practical use.
đź’Metaverse and VR Funding Declines Despite Apple’s Vision Pro Launch
Metaverse and VR startup funding has hit a multi-year low, with only $758 million raised this year as consumer interest wanes. Even Apple’s Vision Pro struggled with slow sales, possibly halting production due to its high price tag and limited consumer integration. As companies like Meta and Apple explore cheaper alternatives, the future of immersive wearable devices hinges on accessibility and practical use.
Telegram was co-founded by Pavel and Nikolai Durov, the brothers who had previously created VKontakte. VK is Russia’s equivalent of Facebook, a social network used for public and private messaging, audio and video sharing as well as online gaming. In January, SimpleWeb reported that VK was Russia’s fourth most-visited website, after Yandex, YouTube and Google’s Russian-language homepage. In 2016, Forbes’ Michael Solomon described Pavel Durov (pictured, below) as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.” Now safely in France with his spouse and three of his children, Kliuchnikov scrolls through Telegram to learn about the devastation happening in his home country. The news also helped traders look past another report showing decades-high inflation and shake off some of the volatility from recent sessions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' February Consumer Price Index (CPI) this week showed another surge in prices even before Russia escalated its attacks in Ukraine. The headline CPI — soaring 7.9% over last year — underscored the sticky inflationary pressures reverberating across the U.S. economy, with everything from groceries to rents and airline fares getting more expensive for everyday consumers. In February 2014, the Ukrainian people ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, prompting Russia to invade and annex the Crimean peninsula. By the start of April, Pavel Durov had given his notice, with TechCrunch saying at the time that the CEO had resisted pressure to suppress pages criticizing the Russian government. It is unclear who runs the account, although Russia's official Ministry of Foreign Affairs Twitter account promoted the Telegram channel on Saturday and claimed it was operated by "a group of experts & journalists."
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