Mozilla, the parent company of Firefox Internet browser, has joined the list of legacy internet platforms jumping into the Web3 and metaverse development space. The company announced that it has completed its acquisition of the US-based virtual spaces and events start-up, Active Replica. Mozilla said the acquisition will help bring Active Replica’s experience in creating compelling virtual events to the Mozilla’s Hubs.
The announcement was made in a blog post made by Mozilla earlier this week, where Mozilla Senior Vice President (SVP), Imo Udom, said that the acquisition will help facilitate in-demand work, personalized subscription tiers, onboarding improvements and adding new features to the Hubs engines. Prior to the acquisition, the virtual experience developer has worked with Mozilla during its multi-day arts and tech festival Mozfest earlier this year.
“Together, we see this as a key opportunity to bring even more innovation and creativity to Hubs than we could alone. We will benefit from their unique experience and ability to create amazing experiences that help organizations use virtual spaces to drive impact. They will benefit from our scale, our talent, and our ability to help bring their innovations to the market faster,” Udom said.
Hubs was launched in 2018 as a VR chatroom that explores how communication in mixed reality can come to life. On the platform, users can create virtual spaces, on the platform, to be inhabited and frequented using mixed reality.
Active Replica was founded in 2020 by Jacob Ervin and Valerian Denis. The two co-founders have now resumed new positions at Mozilla, as senior engineering manager and product lead, respectively. Ervin and Denis had sought to build Active Replica as a platform for virtual events and meetings. The platform will now be built on top of Mozilla’s Hubs project. Active Replica sold virtual event packages that included venue design, event planning, live entertainment and tech support.
Speaking on the acquisition, Ervin and Denis said:
“Mozilla has long advocated for a healthier internet and has been an inspiration to us in its dedication and contributions to the open web. By joining forces with the Mozilla Hubs team, we’re able to further expand on our mission and inspire a new generation of creators, connectors, and builders. Active Replica will continue to work with our existing customers, partners and community.”
Mozilla has been on a massive acquisition journey on its quest to catch-up with Meta’s Metaverse. The company has acquired California-based productivity startup, Pulse, as well Pulse, a machine learning company.