On Wednesday, Alibaba Group led the $60.00 million series C+ fundraising round into augmented reality glasses maker Nreal.
In line with this, the Chinese smart glasses startup raised a total of $200.00 million over the past year.
The firm said that the latest investment would support its efforts toward research and development.
Moreover, Alibaba’s investment in Nreal could hint toward collaboration between the two. For example, Nreal and Nio unveiled AR glasses tailored for electric vehicles last year.
Similarly, the e-commerce giant has already announced plans to launch augmented reality glasses this year for virtual meetings.
The startup also said the new cash injection would strengthen existing partnerships with developers.
Eventually, the financing would help deliver a broader range of content and experiences to users.
In addition, it would accelerate the company’s expansion into new markets, including China. It currently sells its products in South Korea, Japan, Spain and the United States.
It has relied on partnering with local carriers to tout its devices. In the US, Verizon helps the firm to sell mixed reality glasses Light.
The product has a relatively affordable price tag of $600.00 and is for any 5G-compatible Android device.
Consequently, the Beijing-headquartered startup has attracted a lot of high-profile investors. For instance, it disclosed a $100.00 million funding round with Nio Capital among its backers.
At the same time, Chinese short video platform Kuaishou and streaming service iQiyi are investors in the business.
Meanwhile, the funding came as Beijing regulators continued to scrutinize the business practices of the country’s technology heavyweights.
Accordingly, internet firms like Alibaba are on edge about investing in other companies.
For example, Tencent has shed stakes in e-commerce firm JD.com and Singaporean tech business Sea.
Alibaba, Tencent make Metaverse bet
The move came as the Chinese technology giants like Alibaba and Tencent tried to get in on the metaverse theme.
Augment Reality is a key technology for the virtual world, whereas it imposes digital images over the real space.
Accordingly, the total addressable Chinese market for the metaverse could be around $8.00 trillion.
Last year, the e-commerce business launched a virtual influencer named Dong Dong for the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Then, Tencent said that the Metaverse could be an opportunity to add growth to existing industries such as gaming.
Similarly, Bytedance acquired virtual reality headset maker Pico last August, an aggressive expansion into gaming.
Furthermore, NetEase established a base in the southern province of Hainan focused on the development of metaverse applications.
