AR start-up Magic Leap raises $461 million from Saudi government
Florida-based augmented reality (AR) startup Magic Leap has raised $461 million in the second phase of its series D funding round. The funding was led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's sovereign investment arm called 'The Public Investment Fund', which contributed $400 million of the total raise. Interestingly, the company hasn't released a single product to date.
Magic Leap has raised a total funding of $2.3 billion
For the latest round, the Saudi investment was joined by biggies like Google, Alibaba Group, Qualcomm, Warner Bros and J.P. Morgan Investment Management. The first phase of the series D funding took place last October when Magic Leap raised $502 million in capital, led by Singapore government-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings. The company has raised a total funding of over $2.3 billion so far.
But what exactly is the company making?
The company is working on an AR headset that superimposes 3-D virtual images on to the real world. The long-awaited debut product, called 'Magic Leap One, Creator Edition,' will reportedly be ready to ship this year. Built for developers, the AR headset should cost around $1,500 to $2,000. The secretive start-up currently employs about 1,400 people.
Happy to welcome the Saudi investment arm: Magic Leap
"The Magic Leap team and I are happy to welcome The Public Investment Fund and the other new investors to the Magic Leap family. We look forward to having them join us on our journey to build an amazing future," CEO Rony Abovitz said.
Magic Leap is also building its own operating system
Magic Leap is also building its own operating system designed specifically for its own platform of products. This approach of trying to do so many innovations at the same time has led to a delay in the launch of the AR headset. However, the company has quite impressively managed to maintain a constant stream of high-profile investors without having shipped a single AR headset.
