The undisclosed sum will be used to scale the company’s product pipeline and support international growth.

Gorilla in the room uses VR and augmented reality (AR) to allow researchers to immerse people in situations, such as retail studies in a virtual supermarket. The company recently worked on a project with The Royal Shakespeare Company and Ipsos to obtain audience insights from a performance of Titus Andronicus.

Jonathan Barrowman, co-founder and chief executive of Gorilla in the room, said: “We believe the use of VR and AR will be standard practice across the industry within the next three years.”

Chris Kilroy, investment associate at Mercia, said: “Our investment into Gorilla in the room is the result of Mercia’s targeted investment strategy to provide capital and support for emerging companies in this sector.”

Pictured left to right: Founders Tom Painter, Dr Alastair Goode and Jonathan Barrowman of Gorilla in the room