AR/VR investment
seems to be getting big increase. Digi-Capital's latest quarterly
Augmented/Virtual Reality Report and Deals Database analyzed $1.7 billion of
AR/VR VC investments in the 12 months to Q1 2016. Almost $1.2 billion was
invested in the first quarter of this year alone, with around $800 million
going into Magic Leap. To put this in perspective, $1.2 billion dollars is 25x
the level of AR/VR investment two years ago in Q2 2014. Even without Magic
Leap's monster round, the remaining Q1 2016 investment was 45% higher than the
previous quarter.
The leading
AR/VR investment sectors in the last year were AR/VR hardware, video,
solutions/services, games, advertising/marketing, consumer apps, distribution,
tech and peripherals. Despite the early stage of the market, there are already
4 AR/VR unicorns including Magic Leap ($4.5 billion), Oculus ($2 billion),
Blippar ($1.5 billion) and Mindmaze ($1 billion). VCs and corporate in both the
US and China have developed a laser like focus on AR/VR, with investment now
coming from both dedicated AR/VR funds and the cream of Sand Hill Road
investors. Increased investor competition also means that AR/VR rounds are
increasing in both size and valuation.
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