The latest deal to VR simulation engine Improbable is among the largest in AR/VR, trailing only Magic Leap's mega-rounds.
As a newly emerging tech area, funding to augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) has been largely dominated by smaller-seed stage deals. But as the industry matures, check sizes are beginning to swell for certain mature AR/VR startups.
No company has dictated the funding landscape as much as the AR headset maker Magic Leap, whose $794M and $542M mega-rounds have towered over all others. For some time, the next largest has been the $181M round to Unity Technologies.
But the leaderboard has recently been shaken up. Just this week, VR simulation engine Improbable raised a $502M Series B round that ranks it as the third-largest deal in AR/VR history. And like Magic Leap, Improbable’s mega-round puts it far and away above the next largest deal.
After Magic Leap, Improbable and Unity, MindMaze saw the next largest round. The company focuses on AR/VR for neuroscience and post-stroke rehabilitation.
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Track AR/VR startupsSee the full list of AR/VR’s largest deals:
| Rank | Company | Round | Date | Amount ($M) | Round Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Leap | Series C | 2/2/2016 | $793.5 | Alibaba Group, Fidelity Investments, Google, J.P. Morgan Partners, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Wellington Management |
| 2 | Magic Leap | Series B | 10/21/2014 | $542 | Andreessen Horowitz, Google, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Legendary Entertainment, Obvious Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Tull Investment Group, Vulcan Capital |
| 3 | Improbable | Series B | 5/11/2017 | $502 | Andreessen Horowitz, Horizons Ventures, SoftBank Group |
| 4 | Unity Technologies | Series C | 7/13/2016 | $181 | China Investment Corporation, DFJ Growth Fund, Frees Fund, Max Levchin, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, WestSummit Capital |
| 5 | MindMaze | Corporate Minority | 1/28/2016 | $100 | Hinduja Group |
| 6 | NextVR | Series B | 7/1/2016 | $80 | China Assets Holdings, CITIC Guoan, CMC Holdings, Comcast Ventures, Dick Clark Productions, Formation Group, Founder H Fund, Madison Square Garden, NetEase Capital, Peter Guber, RSE Ventures, SoftBank Group, Spectrum 28, Time Warner Investments, VMS Investment Group |
| 7 | Oculus VR | Series B | 12/13/2013 | $75 | 8VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Formation 8, Matrix Partners, Spark Capital |
| 8 | Jaunt | Series C | 9/21/2015 | $65 | Axel Springer, China Media Capital, Evolution Media Partners, Google Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Madison Square Garden, Participant Media, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, Redpoint Ventures, Rothenberg Ventures, Sky, The Walt Disney Company, TPG Growth |
| 9 | LensAR | Debt – IV | 10/2/2013 | $60 | PDL BioPharma |
| 9 | Lytro | Series D | 2/15/2017 | $60 | Andreessen Horowitz, Barry Sternlicht, Blue Pool Capital, EDBI, Foxconn Technology Company, GSV Capital, Huayi Brothers, New Enterprise Associates, North Bridge Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures |
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