Magic Leap, an up-and-coming wearable technology firm, is reportedly in talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to secure an investment worth $400 million.
The PIF, which is a sovereign wealth fund founded in 1971, offers financial support to eligible businesses on behalf of the Saudi government. As of today, the fund is believed to have a market evaluation of nearly $200 billion.
The Financial Times reports that both parties are still negotiating the terms of the deal, which means that there is no certainty that it will materialize. If they close the deal, we might get a confirmation sometime later this week.
If you are reading about Magic Leap for the first time, we don’t blame you. The startup, with its origin dating all the way back to 2011, is ultra-secretive.
Based in the US, Magic Leap is yet to launch a product in the market. It’s first product, a head-mounted virtual retinal display dubbed Magic Leap One, is expected to hit the store shelves later this year. The company claims that Magic Leap One is capable of superimposing computer-generated 3D imagery over real-world objects. In true sci-fi fashion, the device accomplishes this by projecting a digital light field straight on the eyes of the user.
In other words, it is working on a technology that appears to be some kind of amalgamation of computer vision and augmented reality.
According to some estimates, Magic Leap has attracted nearly $2 billion in funding over the past four years and currently values itself at a whopping $6 billion.