Jan 17, 2019 - Technology

Pokémon Go maker Niantic valued at $4 billion ahead of Harry Potter game

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Pokemon Go maker Niantic raised $245 million in Series C funding. Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Niantic, the mobile AR game-maker behind Pokémon Go, raised $245 million in Series C funding at a post-money valuation of nearly $4 billion.

Why it matters: Because this comes ahead of Niantic's anticipated release of a Harry Potter-themed game, further blurring the value line between tech and legacy brand content.

Details: IVP led, and was joined by aXiomatic Gaming, Battery Ventures, Causeway Media Partners, CRV and Samsung Ventures.

  • Related: Jam City, a Los Angeles-based mobile game-maker with its own Harry Potter hit on the market, yesterday announced $145 million in new financing.

The bottom line: "Niantic will use its new capital to accelerate staffing for initiatives such as the Niantic Real World Platform, the engine that powers the company's current slate of titles that utilize AR into their gameplay. ... Niantic also promised that the platform will eventually be made widely available to developers around the world," reports Patrick Shanley in the Hollywood Reporter.

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