In a notable financial development, Chinese augmented reality (AR) startup Rokid Inc. has successfully raised $112 million, valuing the company at $1 billion. This funding milestone is part of a comprehensive 5-year strategic agreement with NetDragon, a significant player backed by Temasek Holdings Pte. The primary objective is to drive AR technology development and craft immersive metaverse and web3 experiences, with a particular emphasis on gaming and education. Rokid plans to utilize the funds to accelerate the advancement of its AR technology overseas. 

The collaboration between Rokid and NetDragon is aimed at creating next-generation interactive user experiences, laying the groundwork for the evolution of web3 and gaming. Mr. Misa Zhu, Founder and CEO of Rokid, expressed optimism about the collaboration, emphasizing NetDragon's role as both an investor and a strategic partner. Zhu envisions the synergy between the two companies will expedite product development and foster innovation within the industry.

As a leading unicorn in the rapidly growing AR industry, Rokid is a product-oriented platform company focusing on human-computer interaction technology with a strong track record in multiple industrial and consumer applications. We look forward to working with NetDragon to expand our opportunities by leveraging their knowledge and know-how in education and gaming, as well as their global sales network.

Mr. Misa Zhu, the Founder and CEO of Rokid.

This strategic partnership between Rokid and NetDragon marks a significant step in the evolution of AR technologies and their role in shaping the future of gaming. As these two industry leaders collaborate, the augmented reality landscape, particularly in gaming and education, is poised for notable developments.

We are excited about our investment in Rokid as we believe AR will be one of the core technologies to enable the metaverse in the years to come. We see AR becoming one of the key channels for users to interact in the metaverse, as the application of AR is appropriate for longer time usage compared to VR, and hence the number and variety of use cases are broadened significantly with AR, especially in education and gaming.

Dr Simon Leung, NetDragon Group Vice Chairman and Executive Director.