Asset management firm Invesco has launched a fund that seeks to invest in companies that are backed by metaverse, Citywire has reported.

Registered in Luxembourg, the new Invesco Metaverse Fund is around $30m in size, reported Decrypt quoting a company spokesman.

The fund is expected to invest in large, medium, and small-cap companies operating in the entire Metaverse Value Chain, which covers a range of coexisting sectors that facilitate, develop, or supported by the expansion of immersive virtual realities.

The actively-managed fund aims to invest in seven major thematic areas, such as new operating and computer systems as well as hardware and devices that can be used to have access to the Metaverse, among others.

It also aims to invest in several other sectors including immersive platforms powered by artificial intelligence, blockchain solutions, the interchange applications that help interoperability among the systems.

The services and assets that help in digitising the real economy are also anticipated to receive investment from the Invesco Metaverse Fund.

The fund will be co-managed by Invesco’s fund manager Tony Roberts and deputy fund manager James McDermottroe, The Crypto Times has reported.

Roberts said: “While the metaverse’s applications to entertainment are increasingly well understood, the interconnectivity that it enables will likely have a transformative impact across industries as diverse as healthcare, logistics, education and sport.

“We will seek to capitalise on these opportunities through a highly selective, valuation-conscious approach.”

Roberts also cited a PWC December 2020 report, which stated that virtual and augmented reality could add £1.4tn to the global economy by 2030.