The US Army has led a $3.5m first round of investment in Ogmento, a New York-based company that adds computer-generated images to the physical real-world environment, known as augmented reality.
Leading the series A round was Chart Venture Partners, a $100m venture capital fund investing in security-related technologies formed by Chart Group, a private investment and merchant banking firm headquartered in New York City, and Insitech, a non-profit commercial partnership intermediary for the US Army’s Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (Ardec).
The series A round was also backed by angel investors and CNF Investments, the VC division of US-based industrial conglomerate Clark Enterprises.
Ogmento will use the funding to build out its development teams on both east and west US coasts as it prepares the release of several game titles in the coming year.
Ori Inbar, co-founder and chief executive of Ogmento, which launched last year, said: "Chart and CNF bring a strong track record of identifying disruptive technologies early, and working with founders to build strong companies."
As part of the financing, Matthew McCooe, founding managing partner of Chart Venture, having previously run Columbia University’s Science and Technology Ventures spin-out and seed funds, and Joe Del Guercio, managing director of CNF will join Ogmento’s board of directors, along with founders Brad Foxhoven, Brian Selzer, and Inbar.
Cole Van Nice, a partner with Chart, will also join Ogmento’s management team directly as chief operating officer.
Ogmento has already developed interactive augmented reality experiences for Penguin Publishing, German software company SAP, mobile phone operator Orange Telecom, manufacturer Smith and Nephew and PBS, an American non-profit public broadcasting television service. The company is currently producing games in collaboration with leading media and sports enterprises and will continue to partner with game developers and augmented reality labs around the world.