MAI Labs targets $50M fundraise, half billion valuation by September

Immersive technology start-up MAI Labs is expecting to close $50 million fundraise at half a billion valuation by September, a top company official said on Wednesday. The company plans to deploy the fund for development of an immersive technology platform comprising virtual reality headset and IPR protection for content creators.

‘Huge amounts of investments are required for developing immersive technologies. We have raised $17.5 million at a valuation of $250 million which gives us a runway of about 1.5 years.

‘We are in the process of raising $50 million at half a billion valuation by September which will be sufficient for us to carry out our launches,’ MAI Labs Founder Tapan Sangal said while speaking on the sidelines of launching an immersive tech platform MayaaVerse.

The company has partnered with Zee Media and TV Tokyo to convert its content for MayaaVerse.

He said the headset business will require huge investments as the company is looking to launch the devices by December in the price range of $700 apiece.

‘We are connecting all the dots that are required for the success of immersive technology. We will launch our app in 30 days that will enable content creators to convert their content into immersive technology. Besides Zee Media, TV Tokyo , we are also in talks with social media apps to onboard them on MayaaVerse. Soon mobile cameras will have depth sensors which will help common users to develop immersive content,’ Sangal said.

He said the company has conducted proof of concept with Ericsson and sees immersive content as one of the key uses for 5G and 6G technologies.

MayaaVerse Chief Business Officer Ashish Minocha at MAI Labs said the company is developing device agnostic full technology stack for immersive content.

He said that it is in the process of finalising the vendor of VR headset and is trying to make the devices in India.

MAI labs has around 200 employees and over 90% of them are based in India. NDTV Profit