But despite well over $10 billion in venture funding going toward the concept already this year and high-profile bets by Big Tech players, those in the industry say much more capital is poised to flow toward startups working to bring truly interactive virtual worlds to life.

What is the metaverse?

While still a fairly nebulous concept, the metaverse is, broadly speaking, viewed by many as the next phase of the internet, where online experiences will combine to form something of an immersive virtual experience. It combines virtual reality, augmented reality, gaming, and other digital social experiences into 3D virtual worlds.

That idea is so alluring that both Big Tech rivals—most notably, Facebook, which last month renamed itself Meta and said it was going all-in on the metaverse—and startups are betting their destinies on the concept.

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