Chinese AR glasses brand Mad Gaze banks $18.6m in series A money

Mad Gaze, a Chinese firm selling smart AR glasses, said it closed its series A funding round last month at US$18.6 million, after securing US$12 million in a pre-series A round in 2019.

Investors in the round include DNS, a tech company specializing in mobile phone accessories and electronic products, and Hong Kong-based VC firm Black30 Venture.

Photo credit: Mad Gaze

Aside from manufacturing smart glasses, Mad Gaze, which was established in 2013, also offers various solutions that include an app-based online marketplace, an automatic AR app generator, a developer platform, and a remote solution platform.

The startup said it plans to funnel the fresh investment into research and development for new smart glasses, optical technology, and AR technology. It also looks to venture into smart watches and expand into new markets. To date, Mad Gaze has launched seven AR glasses.

While it focused on producing products for business use in the past, the company said it designed its latest offering, Glow, specifically for the consumer market.

“With simply plugging into the smartphone, [Glow] streams the mobile screen onto the glasses. It is more personal and easily integrated with consumers’ everyday life,” said Mad Gaze CEO Jordan Cheng.

According to a 2018 Digi-Capital report, Chinese investments into computer vision and AR technologies increased to US$3.9 billion during the year. At the same time, VC sentiment on virtual reality softened significantly, the report noted.

Another company in the space is Sky Limit Entertainment, a tech company that aims to create immersive entertainment and cultural experiences in China. It raised an undisclosed amount of series A money in December 2018 from Intel Capital to develop and promote virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality content solutions.