Pokemon Go Creator Niantic Raises $245 Million In New Funding
Pokemon Go creator Niantic Inc said on Wednesday it had raised $245 million in a new round of financing bringing its valuation to nearly $4 billion.
The Series C financing round was led by IVP with additional strategic investments from aXiomatic Gaming, Battery Ventures, Causeway Media Partners, CRV, and Samsung Ventures, the company said.
aXiomatic Gaming has previously invested in the growing business of e-sports. The company was one of a group of financial backers that made a nearly $1.25 billion investment in Fortnite makers Epic Games last October and also acquired controlling interest of e-sports league Team Liquid in September, 2016.
Niantic is currently working on its next augmented reality mobile game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, with Warner Bros.' WB Games division. It's expected to launch sometime this year.
The game would use real-life locations similar to Niantic and Nintendo’s Pokemon Go, which became the first mass market adoption of augmented reality in July 2016 and allowed players to “catch” animated characters that appeared in their surroundings.
Niantic was spun off from Google in 2015 and is headed by Google executive John Hanke.