Augmented reality glasses maker Magic Leap has raised $461 million in additional funding from the Public Investment Fund, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign investment arm, and some other new investors.
That brings the Plantation, Florida-based company’s fourth round of institutional funding to $963 million, and the total raised to date to $2.3 billion. The funding total is far higher than that of other companies in the fledgling AR business.
“The Magic Leap team and I are happy to welcome [Saudi investment] and the other new investors to the Magic Leap family. We look forward to having them join us on our journey to build an amazing future,” said Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz, in a statement.
Allen & Company served as an exclusive financial advisor to Magic Leap in connection with the transaction.
Magic Leap said in December that the company will ship its first augmented reality glasses in 2018. And it disclosed a couple of weeks ago that it has an alliance with Weta Workshop, a mixed reality and game studio that is working on applications for the Magic Leap glasses. Weta Workshop is part of Peter Jackson’s New Zealand special effects studio, Weta, which created the dazzling effects for The Lord of the Rings films.
Magic Leap has more than 1,500 employees.