Alibaba leads $793.5m round for US-based Magic Leap

New investors in the round also included Warner Bros, Fidelity Management, J.P. Morgan Investment, Morgan Stanley Investment, T. Rowe Price and Wellington Management. Existing players Google, Qualcomm Ventures, Legendary Entertainment, KKR, Vulcan Capital, KPCB, Andreessen Horowitz and Obvious Ventures have all re-upped, according to a statement.

The round will give Magic Leap a post-money valuation of $4.5 billion, although the company has yet to release a product, Techcrunch reported. Joe Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba, will join Magic Leap's board, and Magic Leap will ultimately sell its products on Alibaba's e-commerce platform.

"We invest in forward-thinking, innovative companies like Magic Leap that are developing leading products and technologies," said Tsai. "We believe Alibaba can both provide support and learn from such a partner, and we look forward to working with the Magic Leap team."

Magic Leap is developing a next-generation computing platform that will enable users to blend together digital and physical realities. The new capital will go towards development of the startup's core technology, the mixed reality lightfield.

Media-focused PE firm CMC Capital Partners is also moving into the VR technology in the US. Last September, it participated in a $65 million Series C round for Jaunt, alongside Walt Disney, TPG Growth, Evolution Media Partners and Participant Media. Jaunt has filmed movies, comedy, concerts and documentary that users can watch through the company's self-developed VR headsets.

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