Oculus VR

Virtual reality hardware and software company, now part of Meta's Reality Labs.

Virtual realityConsumer hardwareGamingAcquired startup

Acquired^{Source [3]}^{Source [2]}Last verified Oct 2, 2026

About Oculus VR

Oculus VR was a virtual reality company formed in 2012 around the Oculus Rift, a headset prototype built by Palmer Luckey. Its co-founders were Luckey, Brendan Iribe, Nate Mitchell and Michael Antonov, and it was based in Irvine, California.^{Source [1]}^{Source [3]}

The Rift drew wide attention in 2012, and a Kickstarter campaign raised $2.4 million. Oculus sold more than 40,000 Rift development kits to developers and raised a $16 million Series A and a $75 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz before Facebook agreed in March 2014 to acquire it for about $2 billion in cash and stock.^{Source [1]}^{Source [4]}^{Source [3]}

Under Facebook, Oculus shipped the consumer Rift in 2016, the standalone Oculus Go in 2018, and the Rift S and Oculus Quest in 2019. Its VR work became part of Facebook's Reality Labs, which Meta began reporting as a separate operating segment in 2021.^{Source [6]}^{Source [7]}^{Source [8]}^{Source [9]}^{Source [5]}

The Oculus brand has since been replaced by Meta Quest; oculus.com now redirects to Meta's Quest site.^{Source [10]}^{Source [2]}

What happened

Formed in 2012 by Palmer Luckey, Brendan Iribe, Nate Mitchell and Michael Antonov around Luckey's Rift headset, and raised $2.4 million on Kickstarter. Facebook agreed to acquire it on March 25, 2014 for about $2 billion in cash and stock. The unit later became Facebook Reality Labs and then Reality Labs within Meta, the Oculus brand was phased out from 2022, and oculus.com now redirects to Meta's Quest site.^{Source [1]}^{Source [3]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [11]}^{Source [5]}

Timeline

2021-10Facebook renamed itself Meta and said it would report Reality Labs as a separate segment.^{Source [5]}
2019-05Oculus Quest standalone headset released.^{Source [9]}
2019-03Oculus Rift S unveiled.^{Source [8]}
2017-10Oculus Go announced at Oculus Connect.^{Source [7]}
2017-03Co-founder Palmer Luckey left Facebook.^{Source [6]}
2016Consumer Oculus Rift launched.^{Source [6]}
2015-05Acquired computer vision startup Surreal Vision.^{Source [12]}
2014-03Facebook agreed to acquire Oculus for about $2 billion.^{Source [3]}
2013-12Raised $75 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz.^{Source [4]}
2013-08Hired John Carmack as Chief Technology Officer.^{Source [13]}
2012Kickstarter campaign raised $2.4 million.^{Source [1]}
2012-07Luckey, Iribe, Mitchell and Antonov agreed to form the company.^{Source [1]}

Products and brands

Oculus Rift development kits: Early Rift headsets sold to developers; more than 40,000 sold by December 2013.^{Source [4]}
Oculus Rift: PC-connected consumer VR headset launched in 2016, priced at $499 by 2017.^{Source [6]}^{Source [7]}
Gear VR: Mobile VR headset sold at $129 in 2017.^{Source [7]}
Oculus Go: $199 standalone headset announced in October 2017, shipping in 2018.^{Source [7]}
Oculus Rift S: Higher-resolution PC headset with built-in tracking, unveiled in 2019.^{Source [8]}
Oculus Quest: $399 standalone headset with inside-out tracking, released May 2019.^{Source [9]}

Leadership

Brendan Iribe	Co-founder and CEO^{Source [3]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [13]}	Since 2012
John Carmack	Chief Technology Officer^{Source [13]}^{Source [9]}	Since 2013

Funding and financials

Date	Round	Amount	Investors
2013-12	Series B^{Source [4]}	$75 million	Led by Andreessen Horowitz
2013	Series A^{Source [4]}	$16 million
2012	Kickstarter^{Source [1]}^{Source [4]}	$2.4 million

Notable acquisitions

Surreal Vision^{Source [12]}

2015

People on Founded, and where they went next

1 person on record, connected to 1 other company.

Person	Here	Also built
Palmer Luckey	Co-founder2012 to 2017	Anduril Industries2017 to nowActive

Sources

How Palmer Luckey Created Oculus Rift, Smithsonian Magazine, 2014-11. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Reality Labs, Wikipedia. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Facebook to Acquire Oculus, Meta Newsroom, 2014-03-25. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Oculus VR raises $75M from web browser inventor Marc Andreessen's VC firm to launch virtual reality goggles (Internet Archive snapshot), VentureBeat, 2013-12-12. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Introducing Meta: A Social Technology Company, Meta Newsroom, 2021-10-28. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Embattled Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey leaves Facebook, TechCrunch, 2017-03-30. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Oculus announces new $199 self-contained VR headset called Oculus Go, shipping in 2018, The Verge, 2017-10-11. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Oculus unveils the Rift S, a higher-resolution VR headset with built-in tracking, The Verge, 2019-03-20. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Oculus Quest review: a great system with a frustrating compromise, The Verge, 2019-04-30. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Meta Quest, Meta. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Palmer Luckey, Wikipedia. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Oculus Acquires Surreal Vision To Bring The Real World To VR, TechCrunch, 2015-05-26. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Oculus Rift hires Doom co-creator John Carmack as Chief Technology Officer, Engadget, 2013-08-07. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.

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