Johannes Larcher, new CEO of SubVRsive in Austin. Courtesy photo.

SubVRsive, a cinematic virtual reality production house, announced it has received $4 million in funding and hired a new Chief Executive Officer.

WPP, a global communications services company, invested in the Series A round.

The Austin-based startup, founded in 2015, hired Johannes Larcher as its CEO. He most recently served as executive at Hulu, the video on demand service owned by Disney, Fox, NBC and Time Warner.

The funding will allow SubVRsive to “accelerate our growth and continue to build our team with the best talent in the industry,” according to a blog post on the company’s website.

SubVRsive creates Virtual Reality experiences that help brands engage their audiences more deeply than ever before. Its customers include Lionsgate, MTV, and Downy Unstopables. The company was nominated for an Emmy for its work with Showtime Networks in capturing a boxing match in virtual reality.

“If our experience in immersive storytelling has taught us anything, it’s that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are fundamentally redefining the ways in which brands connect with their audiences,” according to its blog post. “While the sight, sound, and motion of traditional video allow brands to explain their benefits to consumers, the immersive nature of Virtual Reality allows consumers to experience those benefits for themselves – and that experience is captivating. We are convinced that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will continue to push the envelope of storytelling and will offer brands more and more effective ways to deepen their engagement with their audiences.”