3Dfx Interactive Inc may be only a venture-capital funded start- up, but people are already saying very nice things about the Mountain View, California company’s graphics technology – and venture capital firms have tossed a cool $11.6m into the pot for its second round of venture capital funding. The funds will be used to ramp up the manufacturing and sales of its new Voodoo Graphics three-dimensional graphics accelerator. The company will also use the funds to invest in research and development of future products. 3Dfx Interactive, founded in 1994, is focused solely on bringing the next generation of interactive three- dimensional technology to the electronic entertainment industry. The Voodoo Graphics chip set is designed to enable a new class of photorealistic and highly interactive games for the arcade and personal computer game markets. Plus points for Voodoo Graphics are that it is claimed to render both advanced features that dramatically enhance visual quality and accuracy without sacrificing performance, and to deliver radical special effects that create a truly unique gaming experience at an affordable cost. Investors participating in the second round of funding include Norwest Venture Capital, Chemical Venture Partners, US Venture Partners and Venrock Associates. The last two are coming around again.
