UK-based augmented reality (AR) technology developer Blue Vision Labs has emerged from stealth with a $14.5m series A round led by internet and technology group Alphabet’s GV subsidiary.
The round also featured venture capital firms Accel, Horizons Ventures and SV Angel as well as undisclosed additional investors.
Founded in 2011, Blue Vision has developed technology that enables multiple users to experience an AR application at the same time through the creation of self-updating 3D city maps that pinpoint where each user is in real time.
Blue Vision will put the cash towards product development and business expansion. It also plans to hire product, engineering, research and field operation staff, and expects to launch in more markets later this year, following limited releases in London, San Francisco and New York.
The company has raised a total of $17m in funding, it said. Accel, Horizons Ventures and SV Angel, supplied it with $2.5m in seed capital in 2016, according to VentureBeat.
GV general partner Tom Hulme will join the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the unit’s investment.
Hulme said: “We are excited to invest in one of the best technical teams in London; a team that has a working product that can localise, persist and share in real time with a single smartphone lens.
“We look forward to seeing all of the new applications in augmented reality and autonomous vehicles that this unlocks.”