We mined Meta’s acquisitions and partnerships to discern the company's strategic priorities in the metaverse.
Facebook recently sent shockwaves through the physical world when it revealed its intentions to build a digital one.
While the company’s rebrand to “Meta” in October 2021 catapulted conversations about the metaverse into the mainstream, it’s been quietly gathering tools to build the metaverse for years.
For example, Meta began laying the foundation for its virtual reality initiatives by purchasing immersive gaming company Oculus VR in 2014. The tech giant is now using Oculus’ technology to build immersive experiences that bridge the real world with the virtual, from live events to the office to the yoga studio. As this bridge becomes more established, so does the metaverse.
Though the future of the metaverse is still not entirely clear, Meta’s corporate development gives us some major clues about its vision.
Using CB Insights data, we uncovered Meta’s 5 most important strategic tech priorities as they relate to the metaverse — highlighted by its acquisitions and partnerships over the last 3 years. We then categorized companies by their business relationships with Meta across these priorities:
- VR gaming
- VR live events
- VR for work
- 3D mapping & world building
- Hardware
