Above: Niantic’s latest film celebrating its mission and global community.
November 22, 2021 – Niantic Inc., developer of Pokémon GO, and provider of a ‘planet-scale’ augmented reality (AR) platform, has today announced that global technology-focused investment manager Coatue has made a USD $300 million investment in the company, putting Niantic’s valuation at USD $9 billion.
Niantic stated that it will use the funds to invest in current games and new apps, expand its Lightship developer platform, and build out its vision for the ‘Real-World Metaverse’.
“We’re building a future where the real world is overlaid with digital creations, entertainment and information, making it more magical, fun and informative,” said John Hanke, Niantic’s Founder and CEO. “This will take a significant investment of talent, technology and imagination, and we’re thrilled that Coatue is on this journey with us.”
“Niantic is building a platform for AR based on a 3D map of the world that we believe will play a critical role in the next transition in computing,” said Matt Mazzeo, a General Partner at Coatue. “We are excited to partner with Niantic because we see this infrastructure supporting a metaverse for the real world and helping to power the next evolution of the internet.”
Earlier this month, Niantic launched its Lightship platform, enabling developers across the world to realize their visions for augmented reality and the Real-World Metaverse. The Lightship Platform is the foundation for Niantic’s own products, built on the company’s years of experience developing and running titles such as Ingress Prime and Pokémon GO.
Last month, Niantic and Nintendo launched a new app based on Pikmin, a real-time strategy and puzzle video game series. The new smartphone app, Pikmin Bloom, is designed to encourage users to walk and makes the activity more enjoyable. The company added that over the years, players have walked more than 17.5 billion kilometers playing its games.
The company also recently announced Niantic Ventures, a USD $20 million fund to help identify and fund the AR leaders of tomorrow. For more information on Niantic and its augmented reality solutions and apps, please visit the company’s website.
Image / video credit: Niantic Inc.
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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.