In a blog post, Niantic Inc, the augmented reality (AR) platform behind Pokemon Go, said it has raised $300 million from hedge fund Coatue touching a valuation of $9 billion.

Niantic Inc, which was spun off from Alphabet Inc’s Google in 2015, is led by former Google executive John Hanke. It plans on using the funds to expand its recently launched Lightship platform to help developers with their AR creations and build their visions for “the Real-World Metaverse”.

“Niantic is building a platform for AR based on a 3D map of the world that we believe will play a critical role in the next transition in computing,” said Matt Mazzeo, a general partner at Coatue.

In early 2019, Niantic was valued at around $4 billion when it raised $245 million in its Series C funding round. Since then the company has launched its own fund, Niantic Ventures, which will invest and partner with companies focused on AR.

Last month, Niantic launched Pikmin Bloom with Nintendo Co Ltd, which is an AR-based smartphone app that enables users to see tiny, plant-like creatures. A few years ago, it partnered with Nintendo for Pokemon Go – the first game that saw a mass market adoption of AR.

Categories: Creativity, Economy & Finance, Entrepreneurship, HR & Organization, Strategy