Avataar, a platform for AI and computer vision platform, has secured $45 million in Series B funding led by American investment firm Tiger Global Management, with participation from Sequoia India.
Avataar, which is operated by Soul Vision Creations Pvt. Ltd, claims that their platform can detect, modify, analyze, as well as manipulate users’ physical surroundings via a live video stream. With 3D renderings of products, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands and e-commerce platforms can shape their consumer experiences. Its augmented reality (AR) technology offers an enriched on-screen buying, browsing as well as the shopping experience.
The Bengaluru and San Francisco-based startup stated in a press release that the capital is mainly for growth capital. 70 percent of the total will be allocated for technological innovation (product, engineering, and research), with the remaining 30 percent dedicated toward expanding the platform’s global footprint.
The company claims it primarily serves the US market and connects with enterprise leaders across e-commerce, consumer electronics, FMCG companies, and automobile OEMs. This transaction takes the firm’s total cash raised to around $55.5 million across all funding stages.
Sravanth Aluru, founder and CEO of Avataar in a statement said, “The digital world is undergoing a fundamental shift from static 2D content to a life-size virtual 3D world which is dynamic and superimposable onto our shared physical reality. Avataar aims to be the ‘Inside Engine’ powering many new consumer journeys in this shift.”
Avataar stated that it seeks to improve the shopping experience of consumers at home on mobile devices, leveraging AR wearables, or even in a physical store by providing customers to experience an infinite aisle of a digitally-enabled catalog. Avataar’s patented AI/CV platform serves as an ‘Inside Engine,’ powering several user experience evolutions to interactive life-size Web 3.0, commonly known as the Metaverse.
The global augmented reality solutions market was valued at $14.7 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $88.4 billion by 2026, rising at a 31.5 percent CAGR between 2021 and 2026. The rising demand for AR/VR devices in industries such as e-commerce, retail, and healthcare was already propelling demand.
This demand has amplified as a result of Facebook’s rebranding as Meta and growing widespread interest in the concept of “the metaverse.” The global Metaverse market, according to reports, is estimated to reach $6.1 billion by 2021 and $42 billion by 2026.
In fact, the quest for the metaverse has already become so aggressive that firms have been tempted to offer unexpected raises to deter competitors from poaching talent from their artificial intelligence, augmented reality, hardware & software, engineering divisions.
