China wearables player Nreal confirms $15m Series A
Nreal, a China-based company that makes advanced virtual reality glasses that resemble normal sunglasses, has raised $15 million in Series A funding from investors including Shunwei Capital.
Other backers include China Growth Capital, Aplus Capital, smart robotics developer Siasun, and video streaming company iQiyi. The investment coincides with plans to realize the first product shipments within the year.
Nreal differentiates itself from other headset makers through form factor, claiming that its flagship product can recreate the vivid 3D graphics of conventional virtual reality goggles with a more comfortable design that weighs about the same as a pair of normal glasses. It touts its display technology as an interactive mixture of virtual and augmented reality known as mixed reality.
Nreal will not create its own content but is working on a software kit to facilitate connections with third-party content providers. Hang Zhang, a senior director at iQiyi, said that his company would work with Nreal on future content offerings and partner with similar companies as part of its “fourth screen” entertainment strategy.
"The evolution of mixed reality glasses not only allows audiences to have greater freedom of watching and interaction, but also enables content creators to produce more sensory experiences,” Zhang said in a statement. “IQiyi believes that with the popularization of mixed reality hardware, original contents and experiences adapted to mixed reality devices will appear as well.”
Shunwei, which closed its fourth US dollar-denominated VC fund at $1.2 billion in November, was co-founded by Lei Jun, who also established Chinese smart phone maker Xiaomi. The GP is a frequent investor in areas - such as wearables - that complement Xiaomi's smart devices ecosystem. It is also a backer of iQiyi, which went public in the US last year.
Last year, Shunwei participated in China’s virtual reality space by leading a $100 million Series D round for Kujiale, an interior design portal that is said to be used by some 12 million customers to create photorealistic 3D renderings of homes.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.