AR Business, Investments, & Executive Moves
News: Google Backs Yet Another AR Cloud Platform via Ubiquity6's $10.5M Funding Round
Google's AI investment arm, Gradient Ventures, has joined a $10.5 million round of funding for Ubiquity6 and its platform for shared augmented reality experiences, just weeks after Google's GV fund backed a competing AR cloud platform.
News: Snapchat Powers Up Its Game & Development Capabilities with PlayCanvas Acquisition
With its recent acquisition of 3D gaming engine PlayCanvas, Snapchat parent Snap, Inc. appears to be preparing a challenge to the existing players in the world of game development, particularly in terms of augmented and virtual reality gaming.
News: AR Startup Avegant Shuffles Leadership, Cuts Staff, Report Says
Augmented reality hardware maker Avegant has reportedly laid off between 20 and 30 employees, with founder Edward Tang returning to the CEO role at the company.
News: L'Oreal Acquires Leading Augmented Reality Makeup Provider ModiFace
The cosmetics industry faced a rude awakening on Friday as beauty behemoth L'Oréal gobbled up ModiFace, one of the leading providers of augmented reality technology to the cosmetics industry (price details for the acquisition were not disclosed).
News: Ex-Magic Leap Employee Files Lawsuit Alleging Shady Hiring Practices
The legal travails of Magic Leap appear to have no end in sight, as a lawsuit filed by an ex-employee further threatens to dampen the startup's 2018 launch.
News: Google Leads $14.5 Million Funding Round for AR Cloud Startup Blue Vision
The augmented reality cloud and multi-user experiences are shaping up to be one of the hotter areas of augmented reality, and now Google is the latest entity to back these emerging branches of AR.
News: Cisco & Accenture Lead $17.2 Million Investment Round in Upskill's Enterprise AR Suite
Enterprise augmented reality software provider Upskill has raised $17.2 million in its latest round of funding, led by new investors Cisco and Accenture.
News: Magic Leap Filed Police Report on Over $1 Million Theft Linked to Employee
It turns out that coming up groundbreaking technology and raising billions may actually be the easy part for Magic Leap, as a new report has revealed yet another legal entanglement at the Florida-based company.
News: Illumix Emerges from Stealth with $8.6 Million in Funding to Build a Mobile AR Gaming Platform from the Ground Up
Apple often cites its tight integration of hardware and software for its success. Startup Illumix is looking to do the same thing for AR gaming by building an AR platform for its apps.
News: Apple's Focus on Smartglasses Becomes Clearer with Acquisition of AR Display Maker
While Apple may not be ready to divulge its roadmap for shipping its rumored augmented reality headset, the company's actions tell us a different story.
News: Avegant's Future Looks Bright as It Lands $12 Million in Funding for Augmented Reality Displays
The display is one of the most critical components in augmented reality hardware, and on Tuesday, one of the companies making that component, Avegant Corp., closed a funding round of $12 million to support development of next-generation AR displays.
News: Google, Amazon, & More Invest $28M in Nerve-Tapping Technology from CTRL-Labs
New York-based startup CTRL-Labs has closed a $28 million Series A round of funding from Google parent Alphabet's GV and Amazon's Alexa Fund, among others, for its next-generation neural interface technology for AR/VR and robotics.
News: Social VR Startup vTime Lands $7.6M to Launch Augmented Reality Version Later This Year
One of the earliest players in the social virtual reality space, vTime, has just landed $7.6 million in new funding, which the company says is partially earmarked for developing and releasing an augmented reality version of its platform later this year.
News: Apple Boosts Augmented Reality Team with Former Twitter Engineering Exec, Report Says
In hopes of strengthening its growing augmented reality team, Apple has reportedly hired Michael Abbott, an engineering and investment veteran with past ties to Twitter, Microsoft, Palm, and others.
News: Investors Bet $8M on Former Google & Facebook Engineers' Platform-Bridging AR Development Tool
Augmented reality software maker 8th Wall has closed a Series A funding round of $8 million in capital to feed the growth of its development platform.
News: Niantic Acquires Escher Reality to Add Multiplayer Capabilities to Its Apps
Soon, Pokémon GO allies attacking a raid boss at a gym will be able to do so together in augmented reality.
News: Apple's Phil Schiller Hints at Future Smartglasses by Framing Augmented Reality as Sci-Fi
Whenever you attend or remotely watch a major Apple event, you're likely to see Phil Schiller, the company's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, unveiling a brand new product on stage. Outside of an official event, Schiller is the second most likely person (after Apple's CEO Tim Cook) you'll find delivering a rare tidbit of new Apple info or perspective to the public.
News: Apple Bets Another $390 Million on AR's Future, Funds Finisar to Increase iPhone X Component Production
In a move that will increase production capacity for its TrueDepth camera system, Apple has awarded vendor Finisar with $390 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund.
News: Magic Leap Adds Master of 'The Matrix' Bullet Time Effect to Secretive Product Team
After announcing another massive round of funding to the tune of $502 million, Magic Leap is adding another powerful weapon to its creative arsenal: John Gaeta, the man who helped develop the iconic Bullet Time effect for The Matrix series of films.
News: Occipital Acquires Paracosm in a Bid to Transform Even the Largest Structures into Virtual 3D Objects
As interest in augmented and virtual reality continues to grow, so does the need to bring objects from the real world into virtual space. With that, there's also now an increased need for solutions that bypass the time-consuming process of producing handmade 3D models.