Emperia, a London-based metaverse startup that develops virtual shops for fashion brands, has raised $10m (£8m) in a Series A funding round.

Founded in 2019, Emperia creates virtual storefronts to simulate physical shopping experiences when purchasing art and fashion products. He has worked with brands such as Lacoste, Dior Beauty, and Sunglass Hut.

In November of last year, Emperia created a virtual store for Ralph Lauren located in a “snow-covered ski chalet in the mountains” where shoppers could search for digital renderings of clothing.

Emperia says it uses data analytics to inform the design of its virtual stores. The metaverse is a highly publicized, hypothetical iteration of the internet accessed via virtual reality headsets.

“We strongly believe in trust in data, and as such, all of our…