Augmented reality startup Magic Leap has raised a head-spinning amount of funding: $2.6bn over eight rounds since 2014, according to CrunchBase. The company shipped its first AR headset in the summer of 2018, but a report in December 2019 suggested that it had sold just a few thousand units in its first six months, despite Magic Leap’s ambitions to sell 100k in its first year.
A few months on from that report, it seems Magic Leap may be looking for the exit door. Or in Bloomberg’s words, it’s “exploring options including a sale… working with an adviser to consider strategic options that could also include forming a partnership or selling a significant stake ahead of a potential listing”.
The story goes on to suggest that Magic Leap could be valued at more than $10bn if it opts to sell, although one of the obvious candidates, Facebook, appears to have passed already.
TechCrunch wasn’t impressed by the $10bn figure floated in the Bloomberg story. “That price seems ridiculous. It’s the kind of number a prideful company might strategically leak in hopes of drumming up acquisition interest, even at a lower price,” was the tech industry site’s verdict.
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