Magic Leap is one of the most mysterious startups in history where they’ve reached a multi-billion dollar evaluation without having to show a glimpse of their product to the public. As a matter of fact, the Florida-based startup has raised more than $1.3 billion promising an unmatched mixed reality product. And while this is an unprecedented amount of money for a stealth startup, they are seeking more according to Bloomberg.
According to their source, Temasek Holdings, an investment company based out of Singapore, is looking to invest more than $500 million into Magic Leap at a whopping $6 billion plus evaluation. Currently, Magic Leap has received investments from companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Qualcomm Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google at a valuation of $4.5 billion. Google’s Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai is actually on the board.
Furthermore, reports say that Magic Leap is looking to ship their first set of devices to a small group of users within six months time. Those familiar with Magic Leap have also said the headset devices will cost between $1,500 and $2,000 making the devices pretty costly.
The future Magic Leap headsets will be bigger than a pair of glasses but smaller than a virtual reality headset such as the Oculus Rift. Magic Leap’s HMD will also require users to carry around a peripheral device shaped like a puck. The size will be relative to a smartphone.
Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz recently stated to Fast Company that they’ve made “heavy investments in photonics.”
“We’ve developed what I call a photonics chip, which includes the design of it, novel materials, even designing the fab that will make it. That’s fundamentally important for us to deliver the experience that’s the natural fit of how the eye-brain system works. We had to build something that accommodates what your eye-brain system is used to getting, which is not available in any off-the-shelf way.
We have achieved mass miniaturization. We’ve gone beyond the computer simulations and one-off prototypes. We’re not on the risk side. We’re on the other side. It’s like talking about making an Intel chip versus actually making them.”
While the company has had to overcome some humps in the recent year, Magic Leap promises something redefining when their headsets finally launch.