Mobile advertising firm Airpush has launched a completely new platform, VirtualSky, that extends its reach into the emerging world of virtual reality, creating the first ever ad network dedicated entirely to VR experiences.

The platform has been designed from the ground up to deliver high-quality, immersive virtual reality experiences from the worlds top brands and advertisers into virtually any VR app in a seamless, unobtrusive way.

Virtual reality has become one of the fastest growing segments in consumer electronics over the past few years, and is projected to reach $4.7bn (£3.1bn) in software sales by 2018. However, there is currently no scalable monetisation solution for VR developers to earn consistent revenue, and no way for brands to place ads within virtual reality content.

The VirtualSky platform aims to change that by solving two problems that have so far stymied advertisers: slow load times and scalable inventory. Because virtual reality files are extremely large, VirtualSky has been developed to use proprietary technology that enables fast, pre-cached streaming of experiences, nearly eliminating load times.

Combined with the fact that the Airpush network is already integrated into over 150,000 mobile apps around the world, the company is predicting that the platform will expand at a rate that will bring campaign scale in line with other digital mediums.

“Virtual reality has received the endorsement and investment of virtually every major player in the tech industry,” said Cameron V. Peebles, head of global marketing at VirtualSky and Airpush. “from Google to Sony to Facebook, options for VR content development have exploded while any real monetisation or advertising capabilities have yet to emerge. VirtualSky is the first platform to offer both of these.”