Forterra raises $1.2M for corporate virtual worlds

Forterra Systems, a Menlo Park, Calif. company that creates virtual environments for corporations, government agencies and health care organizations, has brought in $1.2 million of what it hopes will soon be a $2.7 million round of capital, reports VentureWire. This is a much lower amount than the $10 million the company said it had secured from In-Q-Tel, Chichen Itza Ventures, Jerusalem Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures last February.

The company was founded as part of There.com in 1998. It raised about $35 million, mostly from individuals, before a recapitalization in 2004. The company’s existing shareholders provided $9 million after the recapitalization. Forterra spun out of There, while Makena Technologies focused on its own consumer-oriented virtual world, There.com. Makena also runs virtual worlds for MTV such as Virtual The Hills.