Pokemon Go maker Niantic catches $200 million
The funding news comes just weeks after the developer announced it's working on a Harry Potter-themed AR game.
The maker of Pokemon Go, the hit augmented-related game about catching cute little monsters, has made a catch of its own: lots of dollars.
Niantic confirmed a Wall Street Journal report Friday that it's raised a whopping $200 million Series B funding round led by Spark Capital. Additional investors include Founders Fund, Meritech, Javelin, You & Mr. Jones and NetEase.
"This round enables new strategic opportunities and enhances our ability to make long-term investments in augmented reality and the Niantic real-world platform," Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a statement.
Pokemon Go launched in July 2016 and by many measures was the fastest-growing app of all time. A year later, 65 million people were still playing the game each month, according to Niantic. But industry watchers and gamers have been waiting for Niantic's next big move.
Then, just this month, Niantic announced it's partnering with Warner Bros. to bring Harry Potter to an augmented-reality phone game called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. We're still waiting for a release date and more information about the Harry Potter game. But it promises players will learn spells, explore their real-world neighborhoods and "discover and fight legendary beasts and team up with others to take down powerful enemies."
Maybe the funding round will be the magic needed to make new details about the Harry Potter game appear.