Augmented reality startup Layar has raised roughly $14 million (€10 million) in its second round of funding, which was led by Intel Capital and joined by previous backers Sunstone Capital and Prime Ventures. This brings the total of capital raised by the Dutch company to a healthy $17.4 million.
Layar says the new funding will be used primarily to enhance its open mobile AR platform and the promotion thereof to third-party developers and brands in an effort to increase the amount of available augmented reality content ‘Layar layers’.
The company will continue developing its mobile application, dubbed the Layar Reality Browser, which is currently available for iPhone, Android and Bada handsets.
The question remains: is augmented reality a fad or poised to go mainstream?
The jury is still out on that, but Intel Capital and Layar’s initial backers are clearly betting on the latter to happen in the near future, and on the Dutch startup to help make it a reality.
Layar B.V. designs and develops mobile phone application. It offers Layar, a mobile augmented browser that provides information on top of the camera display view in various categories, including eating and drinking, entertainment and leisure, games, government, health care, local search and directory services, real estate, retail, schools and universities, social networks and communities, tourism, transportation, and weather. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$9.7 billion in over 1,100 companies in 48 countries. In that timeframe, 189 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 258 were acquired or participated...
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