US-based augmented reality (AR) technology developer Meta closed a $50m series B round featuring internet company Tencent, networking equipment manufacturer GQY, consumer electronics producer Lenovo, and broadcasting and cable service Comcast today.
The corporates were joined by Horizons Ventures and Banyan Capital. Comcast participated through its corporate venturing division Comcast Ventures.
Meta, a 2013 graduate from accelerator Y Combinator, has created an AR headset that enables a user to see, create and interact with virtual objects through hand gestures.
The current incarnation of the technology, Meta 2 (pictured), offers a full 90-degree field of view that can be used while wearing regular glasses. The display is located above the eyebrows, letting the wearer see and interact normally with their physical environment.
The series B funding will help Meta further develop its hardware and software, expand its business, create apps and work on the technology’s next iteration, Meta 3.
Meta previously received $24m in series A capital in a January 2015 round co-led by electronic display manufacturer BOE Optoelectronics, Horizons Ventures and private investors Tim Draper, Garry Tan and Alexis Ohanian.
Danhua Capital, Commodore Partners and Vegas Tech Fund also took part in the series A round, which reportedly followed an angel round backed by Y Combinator and Fenox Capital.
Meta also raised $2m through a campaign to secure funds for the development of its product, including some $195,000 from users on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.
Meron Gribetz, chief executive of Meta, said: “It is incredibly gratifying to have the support of big thinkers and investors who understand the importance of creating a new human-computer interface, anchored in science.
“Our friends at Tencent, Lenovo, Horizons Ventures, Comcast Ventures and all the other investors really get what we are doing and why Meta is different from the other players in AR.”
– Image courtesy of Meta