On August 16, Yinjiang announced that it had invested US$5 million of its own funds in the augmented reality (AR) technology company Magic Leap, acquiring 212,766 shares of the latter.
The announcement shows that the main investor of this investment is Yinjiang Hong Kong, a company established by Yinjiang Shares in Hong Kong in August 2015. It paid 5 million US dollars for 212,766 Magic Leap shares held by Magic Leap’s original shareholder LEGEND PICTURES, and recently received a certificate of equity signed by Rony Abovitz, CEO and founder of Magic Leap.
The consideration per share for this round of Yinjiang Investment in Magic Leap is US$23.5, with a valuation of US$3.7 billion. Currently, Magic Leap is valued at US$4.5 billion.
The announcement pointed out that Magic Leap is a world-renowned augmented reality (AR) company. The digital light field augmented reality technology used is the most cutting-edge technology in the field of augmented reality, and Magic Leap’s technology research and development capabilities are at the top international level. Its main research and development direction is to seamlessly integrate stereoscopic 3D images into real scenes and transmit them to the eyes and brain through electronic light waves, allowing users to directly see and interact with virtual scenes based on real scenes.
Founded on May 5, 2011, Magic Leap currently has more than 500 employees and more than 150 patents. Its shareholders include Google, Alibaba, Qualcomm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Warner Brothers, etc.
Yinjiang believes that direct investment will help it apply its products to the smart city AR display field through direct business cooperation with Magic Leap, and enable deeper cooperation with Magic Leap such as joint research and development and market integration.
The announcement also pointed out that the VR/AR reality industry is still in the early stages of the industry, and technology and business models still need to be developed and improved. Magic Leap is still in the confidential research and development stage, and there are uncertainties in its later operations and management. It may face the risk of not realizing expected benefits or even losses after the product is launched. The company will pay close attention to the latest developments in the industry and Magic Leap’s product research and development, mass production progress and business management status. In addition, overseas investments may face local policy and legal risks.
It is understood that Yinjiang Shares was established in 1992 with investment from Yinjiang Technology Group. On October 30, 2009, Yinjiang Co., Ltd. became one of the first 28 companies listed on the China Growth Enterprise Market (stock code 300020). At present, Yinjiang Co., Ltd. has developed into China's leading smart city solution provider and data operation service provider. Through the application of intelligent identification, data fusion, mobile computing, cloud computing, big data and other technologies, as well as the product development of wearable devices and mobile intelligent terminal equipment, we are committed to providing advanced smart city overall solutions and operating models for users in urban data centers, smart transportation, smart medical care, smart buildings, smart education, smart urban management, smart tourism, smart finance, smart life and other industries.
In recent years, Yinjiang Co., Ltd. has continued to pay attention to the virtual reality technology (VR) and augmented reality technology (AR) industries. On March 18, 2016, the country officially released the "Outline of the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2016-2020)", which clearly stated that it will vigorously promote innovation and industrialization in emerging frontier fields such as virtual reality and augmented reality.
This investment is one of the typical cases of Yinjiang Shares’ strategy implementation. At the same time, the industrial investment fund jointly launched by the company and the Guidance Fund of the Ministry of Science and Technology has invested in Hangzhou Yingmo Technology Co., Ltd., a domestic company engaged in VR, in the first half of this year.
In the future, the company will continue to carry out multi-level cooperation with well-known companies in the VR/AR industry through capital investment, joint research and development, market integration, etc., and apply VR/AR technology to various fields of smart cities to enhance the company's technological leadership in the industry.
ANNA