AR/VR M&A Timeline: Facebook, GoPro, HP, Apple Begin To Grab Startups

Deals to AR/VR startups have seen a massive boom in recent years, with 2015 seeing a record 135 deals and $700M in funding.

Tech giants like Google and Twitter are getting involved with AR/VR. Google led investments in Magic Leap, the secretive AR startup that’s raised $1.4B, and Twitter recently confirmed it’s building a dedicated AR/VR team in-house.

M&A in the space has also grown more frequent, especially in the wake of Facebook‘s high-profile acquisition of Oculus VR for $2B in 2014. We used CB Insights data to track notable AR/VR acquisitions since 2013.

Acquirers in AR/VR span wide variety of industries, include companies in social media, design software, consumer cameras, mobile apps, computers, and chipmakers to name a few.

Apple is still deep in stealth mode about its rumored AR or VR product, but its recent acquisitions of augmented reality startups Metaio and Flyby Media possibly indicate an interest in marrying image-recognition technology to future iPhone iterations. App maker Blippar operates in the mobile AR-game space and acquired visual search developer Layar in 2014.

Other notable acquisitions in 2015 included GoPro buying French VR software company Kolor, along with HP acquiring mobile AR game maker Mind Pirate. Not included in the graphic were sales of intellectual property, such as Microsoft buying AR-related patents from Osterhout Design Group.

Note: click graphic to enlarge.

See the full company list below:

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