Apple’s Vision Pro headset has revived interest in virtual and augmented reality start-ups, which have been struggling to attract funding from investors who have favored artificial intelligence companies. The world’s most valuable company believes its new mixed reality device will herald a new era of spatial computing, similar to how the iPhone revolutionized mobile computing.
Patrick McGee for Financial Times:
AR, VR and mixed reality (XR) start-ups in the US in June raised $208mn, nearly as much in one month as in the previous three combined, data from PitchBook showed. That investment marked a 12-month high, apart from December when a single fundraising from Anduril Industries, a military tech start-up related to mixed reality, raised $1.48bn.
Funding in the sector had slowed in the lead-up to Apple’s launch, with investors cautious about making bets out-of-sync with the world’s largest company. But the June 5 launch “generated tremendous energy” across the sector, said Ori Inbar, founder of Super Ventures, an early-stage augmented reality fund…
The Vision Pro was “the proof the market needed that mixed reality is not a fad”, added Inbar. “I have been getting a lot more calls from investors seeking opportunities and several of my portfolio companies were able to accelerate their fundraising process.”
MacDailyNews Take: It’s not a real market until Apple does it.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
