Frontier tech startups — those focusing on augmented or virtual reality, drones, and outer space — have raised a combined $3.15B in equity financing since 2014 across 183 deals, including nearly $2.2B in the first half of 2015.
Quarterly investment has now surpassed $500M and 30 deals for three straight quarters, with $1.3B in Q1’15 funding being the highest quarterly total of all-time, an amount largely buoyed by SpaceX’s $1B Series D financing from Fidelity Investments and Google.
In all, there have been 9 $50M+ financings to frontier tech companies since 2014, including rounds to Planet Labs ($70M Series C), Magic Leap ($542M Series B), and 3D Robotics ($50M Series C).
Active frontier tech investors
Rothenberg Ventures and Google Ventures have invested in the most frontier tech companies since 2012. Rothenberg Ventures has made multiple early-stage bets including Altspace VR, Matterport, and Dronebase. Google Ventures’ early-stage bets span all areas of frontier tech as well, including drones with Airware and Skycatch, space with Orbital Insight, and AR/VR with AltspaceVR.
The full list of most active frontier tech investors is below.
| Rank | Investor | Rank | Investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothenberg Ventures | 3 | Intel Capital |
| 1 | Google Ventures | 7 | Felicis Ventures |
| 3 | Andreessen Horowitz | 8 | Founders Fund |
| 3 | Qualcomm Ventures | 8 | Bessemer Venture Partners |
| 3 | Lux Capital | 8 | Promus Ventures |
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