Quick take:
- Rokid has received a strategic investment from NetDragon as part of its $112 million Series C round.
- The company will use the funds to accelerate the development of its AR glasses.
- The two companies also agreed on a five-year partnership to build metaverse experiences.
Rokid has closed a $112 million Series C round with a strategic investment from NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777). The two companies also announced a 5-year partnership to build metaverse experiences.
Rokid will use the new funds to accelerate the development of its augmented reality (AR) technology. The company will leverage NetDragon’s expertise and experience in building Internet communities to scale the adoption of its AR technology in the metaverse, including through gaming and education.
According to the announcement on Monday, the two companies will collaborate to create next-generation interactive user experiences that will form the backbone of tomorrow’s metaverse.
Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Misa Zhu, the Founder and CEO of Rokid expressed his excitement for onboarding NetDragon, not just as an investor, but also as a close strategic partner going forward.
“As a leading unicorn in the rapidly growing AR industry, Rokid is a product-oriented platform company focusing on human-computer interaction technology with a strong track record in multiple industrial and consumer applications. We look forward to working with NetDragon to expand our opportunities by leveraging their knowledge and know-how in education and gaming, as well as their global sales network,” said Zhu.
Zhu and his team believe that combining the expertise and experiences of Rokid and NetDragon will accelerate product development and breakthrough innovation in the industry.
On the other hand, Dr Simon Leung, NetDragon Group Vice Chairman and Executive Director commented: “We are excited with our investment in Rokid as we believe AR will be one of the core technologies to enable the metaverse in the years to come. We see AR becoming one of the key channels for users to interact in the metaverse, as the application of AR is appropriate for longer time usage compared to VR, and hence the number and variety of use cases are broadened significantly with AR, especially in education and gaming.”
According to Leung, tapping Rokid’s AR technologies will help NetDragon open up new opportunities to design products with a new level of user experience. Leung also thinks the partnership will accelerate his company’s go-to-market for its AR-enabled product offerings.
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