US-based augmented reality (AR) technology producer Magic Leap raised $502m in a series D round yesterday featuring media company Grupo Globo, e-commerce group Alibaba and internet technology provider Google.
Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek led the round, which included another state-owned unit, EDBI, as well as JP Morgan Investment Management, Fidelity Management and Research (FMR), Janus Henderson Investors and T Rowe Price.
The transaction was first rumoured a month ago, before a regulatory filing last week revealed the company had authorised the issue of approximately $1bn worth of series D shares.
Magic Leap has largely remained in stealth mode since it was founded in 2011, but details that have emerged to date suggest the company is developing an AR headset that projects patterns of light to superimpose virtual objects on physical surroundings.
The technology emulates the way the human eye naturally processes the environment, avoiding the nausea that some users may experience with other devices. The company will reportedly launch a device called Magic Leap One within six months to a small group of customers.
Rony Abovitz, Magic Leap’s founder, president and chief executive, said: “We are excited to welcome Temasek and the other new investors in this round to the Magic Leap family.
“We also greatly appreciate the strong support and partnership from our existing shareholders.”
Magic Leap has raised a total of $1.9bn in equity funding to date, initially securing $50m in series A funding from undisclosed investors in February 2014.
Google led the company’s $542m series B round in October 2014 with contributions from chipmaker Qualcomm’s corporate venturing arm, Qualcomm Ventures, film studio Legendary Entertainment, KPCB, Andreessen Horowitz, KKR, Vulcan Capital and Obvious Ventures.
Magic Leap then raised $794m in a February 2016 series C round led by Alibaba that included Google, Qualcomm Ventures, Legendary Entertainment and media group Warner Bros.
FMR, KKR, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Wellington Management and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price also backed the series C round.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Government Venturing.