As the calendar year (and, for many companies, the fiscal year) comes to a close, it appears 2017 may stand as the new high-water mark for investment in augmented and virtual reality technology.
Last month, the AR/VR advisors at Digi-Capital tallied $2.5 billion in investments in the space, matching the largest 12-month period of investment in under 11 months.
For the last Market Reality of 2017, we’re counting down the year’s largest investments in companies working on augmented reality technology.
#10 — WaveOptics ($16 Million)
Waveguide display maker WaveOptics saw around $16 million from a Series B round of funding in July. The investment may pay off next year, as the company expects its displays to ship in AR headsets by the end of 2018.
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#6 — Leap Motion ($50 Million)
Standing alongside Unity, Unreal, and Vuforia as the top development tools for AR experiences, Leap Motion closed a Series C round of $50 million in July. The funding will go towards the company’s expansion into Asia and application of its technology in the educational, medical, and industrial markets.
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#5 — Niantic ($200 Million)
No AR app developer raised more than Niantic. The company closed a Series B round of $200 million in 2017. Of course, it’s also worth noting that there’s no other AR app that has the name recognition of Pokémon Go, Niantic’s breakthrough AR hit of 2016. One property that has a chance of surpassing that title in the public’s consciousness is Harry Potter: Wizard’s Unite, another Niantic app slated for 2018.
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Source: Next Reality