Samsung quietly acquired a New York-based studio called VRB, maker of virtual reality (VR) apps, for $5.5 million, according to TechCrunch.

VRB co-founder Chrisopher Paretti, was quoted as saying “VRB was acquired by Samsung, but the deal amount will remain undisclosed.”

Samsung’s acquisition took place on 17 April, but the details only just came to light through VRB’s profile on start-up information website AngelList. The site shows the South Korean company’s Samsung Next accelerator programme – which VRB was part of in the past – participated in the purchase.

A statement from Samsung acknowledges its association with the VR firm, but doesn’t mention the acquisition: “VRB’s success is an example of how we empower talented founders with a strong vision, great ideas and the boldness to see it through to scale. We’re very proud of the VRB team and what we’ve accomplished together.”

VRB describes itself as a social VR platform centered around user expression and novel methods of communication.

Its apps include VRB Home, a shared personal space, and VRBFoto, a spherical photo sharing app, which works alongside its service toolkit for developers – an extensible avatar creator, headset-to-mobile broadcasting tool, and persistent backend system enabling users to “create virtual worlds that are shareable, friendly, and meaningful.”

The terms of service for VRBFoto describes the company as “a division of Samsung Research America”, and its two iPhone apps list Samsung Information Systems America as their developer.

According to TechCrunch, VRB is probably the first VR-related acquisition made by Samsung with rumours of more in the pipeline.

Meanwhile some acquisitions like cloud computing company Joyent and Harman, which equips 30 million vehicles with its connected car and audio systems, “fit into the wider VR ecosystem.”

In May it was reported Samsung will retain leadership of the smartphone VR market despite devices running Google’s Daydream platform emerging as alternatives.

Meanwhile, global downloads of VR apps from the App Store and Google Play hit approximately 226 million in 2016, a 276 per cent year-over-year increase.