Niantic raises $300 million to build real-world metaverse

Pokémon GO developer Niantic, which last raised $190 million in 2019, announced that it has raised a new investment. The San Francisco-based company has raised $300 million from Coatue at a $9 billion valuation.

Niantic plans to use the money to invest in its current titles and new apps, expand its Lightship developer platform, and build out its vision for the Real-World Metaverse.

“We’re building a future where the real world is overlaid with digital creations, entertainment and information, making it more magical, fun and informative,” said John Hanke, Niantic’s Founder and CEO. “This will take a significant investment of talent, technology and imagination, and we’re thrilled that Coatue is on this journey with us.”

Founded in 2010 in San Francisco by John Hanke and Phil Keslin, Niantic is known for developing location-based games. Among the games developed by Niantic, there are important titles such as Pokémon GO, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (will shut down on January 31, 2022) and Pikmin Bloom.

“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. “We are excited to partner with Niantic because we see this infrastructure supporting a metaverse for the real world and helping to power the next evolution of the internet.”

Earlier this month, Niantic launched the Lightship AR Developer Kit, enabling developers worldwide to develop augmented reality games with free tools. It also announced Niantic Ventures, a $20 million fund to help identify and fund the AR leaders of tomorrow.