Magic Leap, the US-based augmented reality technology developer backed by internet technology developer Google, is in talks with e-commerce group Alibaba over a $200m investment, Re/code reported yesterday.
Alibaba would lead a funding round that could be sized at up to $1bn, according to the South Florida Business Journal.
Founded in 2010 and still technically operating in stealth mode, Magic Leap is working on imaging technology that can superimpose digital imagery over real life for a user wearing special goggles or other eyewear.
Magic Leap raised $542m in October 2014 in a Google-led round that included Qualcomm Ventures, mobile chip maker Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit, entertainment producer Legendary Entertainment, KKR, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreessen Horowitz and Obvious Ventures.
The company had already secured $50m in funding from undisclosed investors in February 2014.
The news emerged two weeks after Magic Leap released new footage of its technology, showing a digitally created and animated robot and solar system moving against the real-life background of an office.
China-based Alibaba’s involvement would come in the wake of an increasing number of media investments for the company, which operates mainly in e-commerce but which has expanded outwards into a range of sectors through acquisitions and venture capital funding.
Alibaba agreed earlier this month to buy out online video streaming site Youku Tudou by adding $3.5bn to the $1.2bn it invested in the company last year.
The firm has also invested almost $200m in Shanghai Media Group and contributed to a $313m round closed by smart television maker Whaley Technology in 2015.
– Image courtesy of Magic Leap