Niantic has raised $300 million to develop the concept of a "metaverse in the real world." The company's valuation reached $9 billion

The Pokémon GO developer continues to promote his vision of a “metaverse in the real world.” Niantic has raised $300 million from investors to develop this concept. According to the results of the round, the company’s valuation amounted to $9 billion.

Recall that Niantic opposes the “standard” concept of the digital metaverse, which is supported by many other technology companies. In August, Niantic founder and CEO John Hanke called such an idea a “dystopian nightmare” and suggested instead endowing the real world with additional digital information using AR technologies.

Niantic officially presented its vision of the metaverse two weeks ago. At the same time, she released a set of AR tools Lightship ARDK. The company will spend the $300 million received, including on expanding this set, supporting current games and developing new applications.

The leader of the Series D round was the hedge fund Coatue.

“Niantic is working on creating an AR platform based on a three-dimensional world map. In our opinion, it will play a crucial role in the next revolution in the field of computer technology,” said Matt Mazzeo, general partner of Coatue. “We are pleased to cooperate with Niantic. We see that the infrastructure created by her will support the metaverse in the real world and will help with the further evolution of the Internet.”

How much Niantic was valued before Coatue’s investment is not reported. But at the beginning of 2019, the company’s value was about $4 billion.