(Oct 19): Magic Leap, the richly funded startup developing an augmented-reality device, has added more cash to its arsenal, though it has yet to release a product.
The latest funding round of US$502 million ($682 million) was led by Temasek Holding, Singapore’s state-owned investment company. Brazil-based Grupo Globo and Janus Henderson Investors also participated, along with Alibaba Group Holding, Fidelity Investments and other existing investors, Magic Leap said in a statement. This brings total funding for the Florida-based startup to more than US$1.8 billion.
See: Temasek mulling investment in US wearable computing device maker
Bloomberg first reported last month that Temasek was considering taking part in the financing round, which was expected to value Magic Leap at about US$6 billion. The company declined to comment on the valuation. Magic Leap hopes to ship its first device to a small group of users within five months, people familiar have said.
Magic Leap has wowed investors with a promise to create a headset using a type of light-field technology that would result in superior augmented reality experiences, an area most major consumer technology companies are chasing. But it has never given a launch date for its device, nor offered much detail on how it would work.
