Flyby Media, US-based virtual reality (VR) technology producer backed by corporates Clark Enterprises and Robert Bosch, has been acquired by technology company Apple for an undisclosed sum, according to VentureBeat.
Founded in 2008, Flyby has developed a smartphone app that is able to map a real-world space. The company was originally named Arballon, before rebranding to Pookatak Games and then Ogmento before settling on Flyby Media.
The acquisition follows Apple’s purchase of Emotient, a facial expression recognition technology developer backed by chip maker Intel, last month. The Financial Times reports Apple has assigned several hundred staff to create VR products such as a specialised headset.
Flyby has secured $25.1m in equity funding and debt financing pre-acquisition, according to regulatory filings.
Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the corporate venturing arm of industrial group Robert Bosch, took part in Flyby’s $3.6m series B round in 2011, after Flyby had raised $3.5m in a 2010 series A round backed by construction firm Clark Enterprises’ corporate venturing division, CNF Investments.
The series A round was also backed by Chart Venture Partners, the VC fund of merchant bank Chart Group, and Insitech, a non-profit commercial partnership intermediary for the US Army’s Armament Research Development and Engineering Center.