VR Startup Nomadic Replaces CEO Doug Griffin With Former The Void CEO Cliff Plumer (EXCLUSIVE)

Janko Roettgers

Click here to read the full article.

Location-based virtual reality (VR) startup Nomadic has swapped out its leadership: CEO Doug Griffin stepped down this week, and has been replaced with Cliff Plumer, former CEO of Nomadic competitor The Void, Variety has learned.

Griffin became the founding CEO of Nomadic in 2015; Plumer served as the CEO of The Void from 2016 to 2018. Earlier in his career, Plumer led Digital Domain as its President and CEO, and worked as the CTO of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic.

More from Variety

The move to replace Griffin comes just two months after Nomadic announced an international expansion, and opened up a VR center in Seoul. The company is currently operating a VR center in Florida, and is set to open a second domestic location in Las Vegas early next year.

Nomadic is one of a handful of startups looking to make VR available outside of the home. The company’s first available attraction is a version of the VR shooter “Arizona Sunshine” that has been optimized for location-based entertainment, complete with physical cues that include real doors, cabinets and even a mechanical zombie.

The startup is directly competing with The Void, which has been funded by Disney, Fox and other Hollywood heavyweights. The Void recently opened new outposts in San Francisco and New York. It is now operating 16 locations in 4 countries, with plans to open another dozen or so over the coming months.

Nomadic raised a $6 million Seed round of funding from Horizons Ventures, Vulcan Capital, Maveron, Presence Capital and Verus International in 2017. The company hasn’t announced any subsequent funding rounds, which could be one of the reasons for the leadership change. Nomadic underwent 2 rounds of layoffs late last and earlier this year, sources told Variety Tuesday.

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.