March 23, 2021 – Blippar, a provider of augmented reality (AR) products and services for brands, has today announced that it has closed a USD$5 million funding round. The pre-Series A round was co-led by Chroma Ventures – the investment arm of 4J Studios – and West Coast Capital, with Globalive Capital also contributing to the round. The investors join existing shareholder Candy Ventures.
Blippar stated that the new investment will be used to further develop the company’s technology and accelerate its growth in key markets including the US, Europe and Asia.
Faisal Galaria, CEO of Blippar, commented: “We are very excited to have attracted investors of this calibre to Blippar. Not only is this a solid vote of confidence in Blippar’s technology from some of the most highly regarded industry veterans and business minds, but it also demonstrates sustained validation of the UK tech sector post-Brexit.
“2020 was a transformative year for Blippar with a 200% increase in revenue quarter on quarter, continued strengthening of the senior leadership team, and delivery of cutting-edge AR campaigns for major global brands including OnePlus, Kellogg’s and Dr Pepper. We have leveraged our 10 years of investment, provenance, and technology leadership in the AR space to come back leaner, more focussed and better than ever before.”
Gaming pioneers Chris van der Kuyl and Paddy Burns of 4J Studios, best known for developing the globally successful game Minecraft, recently launched Chroma Ventures, a new investment arm for their portfolio of investments, to channel flexible capital into a range of early-stage and established businesses with high-growth potential.
Van der Kuyl, who has also joined the Blippar board as a Director, commented: “The immersive nature of AR makes it one of the most important use cases for the gaming industry. Blippar’s AR technology is by far the most advanced and innovative that I’ve seen in years and there is huge potential for AR to power the ultimate gaming experience of the future. We look forward to being part of the Blippar journey.”
Anthony Lacavera, Founder and Chairman of Globalive, said: “Blippar is exactly the kind of business we get excited about. With the AR tech stack now available on over 4 billion mobile phones and with 5G rolling out globally, the timing for AR is now. Blippar is incredibly well positioned to lead the transition from a 2D to an immersive 3D world leveraging its experience in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, AI in addition to Augmented Reality.”
Blippar also announced today that in addition to Chris van der Kuyl, tech entrepreneur Justin Cooke has also been appointed to its board this month. Chief Content & Partnerships Officer of FutureLearn, Justin is also a Venture Partner at tech investor Northzone, and an adviser and investor in numerous technology businesses, according to the company.
The UK Government also secured a minority equity stake in Blippar in 2020 through the Future Fund match funding scheme, which Blippar states helps to further validate its status as “a leading innovative UK technology company.”
For more information on Blippar and its augmented reality platform and solutions, please visit the company’s website.
Image credit: Blippar / Chroma Ventures
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Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.