[September 18, 2018] |
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Maveron and Lightspeed Venture Partners Lead $8.6 Million Funding in Illumix to Transform AR Gaming
Illumix,
an integrated gaming and technology company transforming the future of
mixed reality with environmentally-intelligent, world-scale augmented
reality (AR) games, today emerged from stealth mode and announced its
raise of $8.6 million in seed funding led by premier venture capital
firms Maveron
and Lightspeed
Venture Partners. Radar Partners, Unusual Ventures, and 451
Media, co-founded by Michael Bay, also invested. The raise is a
testament to both the company's ability to execute on the full potential
of mobile AR through custom technology, and their exceptional team of
computer vision and gaming experts.
According to the 2018 Newzoo Global Games Market Report, the gaming
market continues to grow as new modes, styles, and platforms become
available. For the first time, mobile gaming will contribute more than
half of all revenues, with smartphone and tablet gaming growing 25.5%
year-on-year, to $70.3 billion USD. This makes mobile both the largest
and fastest growing gaming sector, with AR games a high-growth
sub-sector.
Illumix is developing and publishing top AR games that unleash the full
potential of mobile devices. The company integrates across both
technology and content to take a targeted approach to game development
that puts the user experience front and center. Illumix's process,
pipeline, and infrastructure combine best-in-class AAA gaming practices
and performance with cutting-edge R&D in computer vision, deep learning,
and mobile AR.
The company will release both an original IP in addition to a licensed
game in 2019. These games dynamically adapt to space by leveraging
Illumix's custom AR technology, which understands and interacts with a
player's environment in real-time, at home or anywhere else, without the
need for pre-mapping the space.
"AR will drive the next transformation in how we view the world and our
role in it. Illumix will give people freedom to break through to a
larger, more unlimited reality," said Kirin Sinha, founder and CEO of
Illumix. "Illumix takes AR games beyond tabletop or geolocation y
understanding and using the space around players more completely than
ever before. More than developing only technology, our team is creating
meaningful, compelling, and engaging AR user experiences."
"In Kirin, we met a brilliant entrepreneur who is passionate about
building a world class gaming studio while redefining what is possible
on mobile devices and with augmented reality," said David Wu, Partner at
Maveron. "With the rapid evolution and adoption of augmented reality
technology, we believe that Illumix is perfectly positioned to build the
defining consumer brand in creating transformative mixed reality games
that integrated into people's daily lives."
"At Lightspeed, we look for companies that will redefine the way we live
and work," said Nicole Quinn, Partner at Lightspeed. "Illumix's team and
vision, coupled with its custom technology, has the power to transform
AR beyond novelty or companion experiences and define a new category in
interactive entertainment."
With this funding, the company will invest in its products and
partnerships, and expand its team with people who want to create the
next dimension in mobile gaming.
Illumix is hiring. Check out openings here.
Follow us on social media at:
Facebook (News - Alert): https://www.facebook.com/IllumixOfficial/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illumixofficial/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/illumix
LinkedIn (News - Alert): https://www.linkedin.com/company/illumix/
About Illumix
Illumix is an integrated gaming and technology company transforming the
future of mixed reality with environmentally-intelligent, world-scale AR
games. Illumix's process, pipeline, and infrastructure combine
best-in-class AAA gaming practices and performance with cutting-edge R&D
in computer vision, deep learning, and mobile AR. The company will
release both an original IP in addition to a licensed game in 2019.
Founded in August 2017 by MIT (News - Alert) and Stanford alumna Kirin Sinha, and based
in Silicon Valley, the company has 11 employees and is growing a
technical and creative team of leaders in AR, computer vision, and
gaming, including alumni from EA, Zynga and Microsoft (News - Alert). Illumix is
supported by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Maveron, Radar Partners,
Unusual Ventures and 451 Media.
www.illumix.com
About Maveron
Maveron is a consumer-only venture capital firm funding the brand
upstarts, the disruptors, the slayers of the consumer old guard. We
target seed or Series A companies and are obsessed with helping
extraordinary founders build enduring consumer companies that directly
engage, empower, and enchant customers. We've had the distinct pleasure
to back some incredible companies - Zulily, Allbirds, Trupanion, General
Assembly, eBay (News - Alert), August Home, Imperfect Produce, and many more. www.maveron.com
About Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm
focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the
Enterprise and Consumer sectors. Over the past two decades, the
Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build
more than 300 companies globally, including Snap, The Honest Company,
GrubHub, Nest, Nutanix, AppDynamics, and MuleSoft. The firm currently
manages over $6 billion of committed capital and invests in the U.S. and
internationally, with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon
Valley, Israel, India and China. www.lsvp.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180918005293/en/
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