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Seven years after raising $542M at a $2B valuation, Magic Leap raises $500M at a $2B valuation
Magic Leap has had one hell of a journey, and to their credit, it seems investors are still addicted to giving them money.
The augmented reality startup announced today that they have raised $500 million at a $2 billion valuation from existing investors. The round echoes the terms of an October 2014 raise where Magic Leap raised $542 million at a reported $2 billion valuation. Quite a bit has happened in the meantime.
Curiously, Magic Leap decided not to actually disclose any of the specific investors participating in this latest fundraise. At this point, the company has raised $3.5 billion in total funding according to Crunchbase, meaning that most of the investors they've brought in haven't fared too well thus far.
Magic Leap 2 Teased For 2022 With Taller Field Of View
A blog post by Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson features an image, pictured below, comparing the field of view of the first and second generation AR headsets. While Magic Leap 2 seems to have small gains in horizontal field of view, vertically the augmentation of your vision should be far more significant with the new device. The company is said to have raised another $500 million to roll-out the second generation product focused toward business markets in 2022. "Select customers" are "already leveraging its capabilities through an early access program," according to the company.
Also at The Verge.
Previously:
Developers Race to Develop VR Headsets that Won't Make Users Nauseous (2015)
Magic Leap Bashed for Being Vaporware (2016)
Magic Leap Finally Announces a Product, But is It Still Vaporware? (2017)
Magic Leap Opens Up Orders for $2,295 "Creator Edition" Augmented Reality Headset (2018)
Magic Leap Accuses Chinese Company of Copying Trade Secrets (2019)
2020: The Year of AR? "$2.6 Billion Flop" Magic Leap Pivots to Enterprise (2019)
Magic Leap's $2.6 Billion Bait and Switch (2020)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 13 2021, @09:43AM
Spy on them all! Give all the money to the people that are able to spy on everyone!! QUICK! Before they catch on!
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday October 13 2021, @02:06PM
These AR glasses would look even more geeky if they had antennas. About a three inch antenna on each side of the glasses frame.
Maybe also a plug in connector for an optional companion professionally made aluminum hat accessory.
If you think a fertilized egg is a child but an immigrant child is not, please don't pretend your concerns are religious
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 13 2021, @07:00PM
Both the VR sets, and the ease at which con artists sell existing technology as a brand new thing to venture capital, have a tendency to make me nauseous.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday October 13 2021, @07:07PM
Apparently they they call it the MAGIC leap because despite being caught out making completely deceptive claims about the original, which utterly failed to deliver on even a small fraction of their promises, they were magically able to sucker people into not one but TWO rounds of additional financing.
Maybe I'm wrong, I hope so, I'd love to see the tech they originally promised. But everything I've heard was that the first version didn't even use anything remotely resembling the technology they claimed it was based on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 13 2021, @07:07PM
https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/ [ultimatehackingkeyboard.com]
I kinda want it.