Developer of the popular augmented-reality mobile game Pokémon Go, Niantic has managed to raise another $245 million in its Series C funding, which means that the company has now a valuation of almost $4 billion.
Niantic keeps attracting a bigger and bigger audience
The round was led by venture capital firm IVP, with investments coming from Samsung Ventures, CRV, aXiomatic Gaming, Causeway Media Partners and Battery Ventures. Only two weeks ago, Niantic also closed a $190 million equity sale.
Let’s not forget that Pokémon Go has been an exceptional hit for the company, which earned more than $2 billion in revenue. The amazing thing is that the audience of the game keeps growing from one year to another. Given the fact that the game was released not long ago, only in 2016, this is an incredible success. Upcoming AR mobile game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will definitely attract new players as well and will provide users with new enjoyable ways to play with their mobile phones.
What would Niantic use the newly earned amounts of money for?
Niantic is known for two AR mobile games, Pokémon Go and Ingress Prime, and it is also the studio that will be responsible for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. All three games are free-to-play, including the upcoming one, and they combine the virtual world with the real one, by using augmented-reality visuals and mechanics. It is believed that the studio will use the new money to expand its AR technologies, which makes perfect sense, especially given the fact that a new important game is on its way.
Based on what we’ve heard so far, the company is planning to put a part of the quarter billion it has just earned toward its Niantic Real World Platform, machine learning and new content as well. There are also rumors that the studio is thinking of bringing on fresh talent.
Juana loves to cover the tech and gaming industry, she always stays on the first row of CES conference and reports live from there.
