AR Specialist Zappar Nets $3.75m in Funding, Aims to “Democratize Augmented Reality”

Zappar, a London-based developer in the Augmented Reality space, is announcing the closing of its Series A funding round. The $3.75m investment will accelerate the development of several new products along with increased support for ZapWorks, their flagship content creation tool.

Having worked with over 200 partners from the retail, television, film and packaged goods industries including Warner Bros, Coca-Cola and Manchester City Football Club, Zappar is a leading developer of Augmented Reality experiences and tools. Their free ‘Zappar’ AR smartphone app reacts when the camera is pointed at ‘zapcodes’ found on printed materials, allowing AR content to appear over any surface. Some of this content is produced in-house, but their most exciting venture is ZapWorks, a new creation suite that allows brands, marketing agencies and other external creators to quickly produce their own AR, VR and Mixed Reality content. They have also successfully crowdfunded a Google Cardboard-inspired $30 Mixed Reality solution called ZapBox.

Today, Zappar is announcing the closing of its $3.75m Series A funding round, led by London-based investors Hargreave Hale, along with brand technology business You & Mr Jones and China’s largest independent mobile game publishing platform iDreamSky.

“We’re at a unique moment in time as AR, VR and MR content and technology moves into the mainstream,” said Oliver Bedford, Fund Manager at Hargreave Hale. “There are a number of players entering this space. Zappar are a clear front runner, grounded in an established, effective, robust, and highly scalable content creation technology that caters to all markets and developer needs.”

The funding will accelerate the development of several new products, and will see the expansion of its SaaS Sales team, User Success specialists, R&D and Marketing divisions, extending Zappar’s international reach. The flagship product ZapWorks, which is already being used by leading brands such as Samsung and Vodafone, will receive further development, global marketing and support.

“Zappar is a best-in-class business that empowers businesses and creatives to build best-in-class augmented reality experiences”, said George Prest, Partner at You & Mr Jones, an investor in Niantic, creators of Pokémon Go. “Since launching ZapWorks earlier this year, the platform’s ease of use, breadth of tools and affordable cost structure have resonated very strongly with the market, resulting in clear belief from us in their business potential. Zappar has what it takes to truly democratise AR creation, and we’re looking forward to the company’s successes.”

“This funding round is another great milestone for the business”, said Caspar Thykier, CEO of Zappar. “Zappar’s mission is to democratise augmented reality. AR represents an exciting future for consumer engagement connecting devices to the world around us. With this round our established institutional and trade investors lend further credence to this future as we continue towards AR delivering a digital discovery channel through mobile devices and head-mounted displays.”