US-based visual imaging technology developer Magic Leap closed a $542m series B round on Tuesday backed by investors including internet company Google and wireless technology producer Qualcomm.
Google led the round, while additional backers included Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit Qualcomm Ventures, film and comics producer Legendary Entertainment, KKR, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreessen Horowitz and Obvious Ventures.
Magic Leap is developing an augmented reality system that will enable realistic moving images to be superimposed on to a user’s view of the real world using mobile technology. It reportedly raised $50m in funding from undisclosed backers in February this year.
The latest financing will go to product development, the release of software development tools, the expansion of Magic Leap’s content ecosystem and the commercialisation of its technology through a mobile wearable system.
Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Android, Chrome and Apps at Google, said: “We are looking forward to Magic Leap’s next stage of growth, and to seeing how it will shape the future of visual computing.”
Pichai has joined Magic Leap’s board of directors in conjunction with the funding, while Paul E. Jacobs, Qualcomm’s executive chairman, and Don Harrison, vice president of corporate development at Google, will join the board as observers.