A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally
RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – AUGMENTED REALITY
- 8i, a volumetric capture company, raises $27M from investors including investors including Time Warner Investments, Baidu Ventures, Hearst Ventures, Verizon Ventures Link
- Zappar, a developer of AR experiences and creative tools, raises $3.8M in Series A funding from investors including Hargreave Hale, You & Mr Jones and iDreamSky Link
- FUSAR, a wearable tech startup, raises $1M in Seed funding Link
- Imaginate, an augmented & virtual reality startup, raises $500k in Seed funding from SRI Capital Link
- Magic Leap, an AR startup working on head-mounted virtual retinal display, acquires 3D division of Dacuda, a computer vision startup Link
- Vuzix enters into development agreement with Toshiba for a customized smart glasses device Link
- Shazam launches a scaled AR platform for brands in partnership with Zappar Link
- New JavaScript solution developed for mobile developers to create AR experiences Link
SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND
Holosee (2016, Bucharest) – Holographic telecommunications platform for AR/VR head mounted displays.
LEADER BOARD – AUGMENTED REALITY
Display Medium – HMD
Vuzix (1997, Rochester, IPO) – Provides display and wearable devices to consumer, commercial and entertainment markets. Went public in 2010.
Magic Leap (2011, Miami, $1.39B) – Develops AR computing platform and head mounted device. Backed by Alphabet (Google), Qualcomm Ventures, KPCB, Andreessen Horowitz.
DigiLens (2003, Sunnyvale, $74M) – Developer of waveguide technology for AR displays. Backed by Crescendo Ventures, Sony, Foxconn, Continental, Panasonic, and others.
Meta (2012, Redwood City, $73M) – Manufactures AR headsets with holographic displays. Backed by YCombinator, Horizon Ventures, BOE Technology Group.
Lumus (2000, Rehovot, $64M) – Developer of augmented reality wearable displays. Backed by Quanta Computer, HTC, Motorola Ventures, Shanda Group and others.
ODG (1999, SF, $58M) – Augmented reality smart glasses provider. Backed by Shenzhen O-Film Tech, Vanfund Urban Investment ＆Development, 21st Century Fox and others.
Display Medium – HUD
Navdy (2013, SF, $26.5M) – Provides projection display for cars, paired with voice and gesture control. Backed by Qualcomm Ventures, Foundation8, Promus Ventures, Upfront Ventures, Wareness, Eniac Ventures.
Display Medium – Holographic Display
WayRay (2012, Lausanne, $6M) – Developing holographic navigation systems for cars.
Technology Providers – Enabling Technologies
InvenSense (2003, San Jose, IPO, Acq.) – Develops motion sensing solutions for mobile applications. Filed IPO in 2011. Acquired by TDK in 2016.
Movidius (2005, San Mateo, $86.5M, Acq.) – Develops mobile vision processor chips. Backed by Summit Bridge Capital, ARCH Venture Partners, Atlantic Bridge, AIB, DFJ, RBVC. Acquired by Intel in 2016.
Infinity AR (2006, Petah Tikva, $75M) – Provides AR content development platform. Filed IPO in 2009, went back to becoming private after investments from Alibaba and Sun Corporation in November 2016. Backed by Alibaba, Sun Corporation, Singulariteam Fund, Platinum Partners.
Technology Providers – Software
Blippar (2011, London, $99M) – Visual discovery browser using augmented reality and image recognition. Backed by undisclosed investors. Acquired Layar, AR browser provider in 2014; and Binocular, AR virtual try-on app developer in 2015.
Applications – Enterprise
Augmedix (2012, SF, $63M) – Developing Google Glass powered solutions for doctors. Backed by Rock Health, Emergence Capital Partners, DCM, Great Oak Venture Capital, Sutter Health, Dignity Health and others.
Upskill (2010, Herndon, $29M) – Enterprise software platform for industrial wearable smart devices. Backed by NEA, GE Ventures, Salesforce, Clark Enterprises.
Marxent (2011, Dayton, $13M) – Provider of AR & VR solutions for visual commerce. Backed by Detroit Venture Partners, Stage 1 Ventures.
Applications – Consumer Product
zSpace (2007, SF, $57M) – Develops AR devices that provide an interactive virtual holographic platform. Previously called Infinite Z. Backed by In-Q-Tel.
NeoBear (2009, Shanghai, $56M) – Develops Augmented Reality toys and mobile apps that help children to learn words and languages. Backed by GGV Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Sinolink Securities, Haitong Kaiyuan Capital and Liuhe Capital.
Osmo (2013, Palo Alto, $36M) – Hardware-based iPad games for kids. Backed by Accel Partners, Upfront Ventures, K9 Ventures, and others.
Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount
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