Pixie Technology Raises $18.5 Million To Enhance Its Augmented Reality Location Of Things Platform
Series B Funding led by Spark Capital to be Used to Scale Production, Enhance its Platform Features and Develop Third Party Partnerships
LOS ALTOS, Calif., July 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixie Technology, a leader in the emerging Location of Things sector with its location solution, announced today that it has closed its Series B round of funding at $18.5 million. The funding was led by Spark Capital, an early & growth stage venture capital firm that has supported the likes of Twitter, Oculus, Slack and Medium. This round brings Pixie's funding total to $24 million, with $5.5 million raised in 2013. Other investors in the round include Cedar Fund, OurCrowd and private investors.
Designed to help people easily track and find their favorite everyday items, Pixie Technology combines augmented reality navigation with innovative signaling technology. It began shipping Pixie Points, its first product, to pre-order customers last year and will use this latest investment to launch new advanced product capabilities and scale production to bring Pixie to even more customers. It is also investing in further expanding its Location of Things platform and ecosystem and has opened its Software Development Kit to allow developers and third parties to create new applications, building its signaling technologies into other products, devices and services.
"We are thrilled to be announcing the closing of our Series B round led by Spark Capital and believe the size and caliber of the investment partners demonstrates Pixie's position as a true leader in location technologies," said Amir Bassan-Eskenazi, CEO and co-founder of Pixie Technology. "The new funds will simultaneously allow us to enhance and expand our consumer proposition, while also developing our pioneering Location of Things platform that leverages the power of mesh networks. We will soon be in a world where everything around us can be given a digital identity, and Pixie looks forward to delivering a future where lost and misplaced items are a thing of the past."
Pixie Points are an ingenious tool to give everyday physical items a digital identity that can be instantly located. Pixie Point tags affix to everything from keys, wallets, remotes to toys and pets and allow consumers to track and find them with their smart device. Once activated, Pixie Points continually communicate with each other, creating a digital map that can be viewed and managed with the Pixie app. The Pixie app guides people to their lost item, providing an augmented reality overlay over a phone's camera display that places an X exactly where the lost item is located even if it is behind a cushion or the other side of a wall.
As a result of the funding, Pixie will be rolling out new functionality from Q3 onwards and in due course will make further announcements around advanced features such as:
- Advanced Interface – Pixie's app will display an enriched augmented reality interface, providing users a detailed look at rooms and spaces that their possessions are in as well as the exact location of their missing items. Updated room scanning features will also be included.
- Phone Locater – Find any Pixified phone with another mobile device.
- Digital Leash – Pixie will notify users when they get out of range of a Pixied item. No more leaving purses or wallets in a restaurants.
- Family Sharing – Loved ones will now be able to keep an eye on each other's valuables.
"Pixie has created a new category of product that gives location-aware digital presence to physical devices. Location is what has been missing in IoT. Pixie is an attractive platform for a set of new and interesting applications," said Santo Politi, General Partner & co-founder of Spark Capital. "The company has the technology advantage and business model to appeal to consumers and work with partners. We are excited to support the Pixie team as they build their company."
Updated Pixie Points can be reserved now on www.getpixie.com for the original price of $69.95 for a pack of four. Shipping will begin early fall.
About Pixie Technology Inc.
Pixie Technology™ is the creator of the Location of Things (LoT) technology platform that makes location an exact science by allowing anyone to create a digital map of their things on the fly. Pixie uses beautifully designed tags called Pixie Points™ to establish a personal digital map of all tagged items so that it can help users locate lost items within inches.
Pixie Technology is a privately held global company with offices in Los Altos, Boston and Israel, funded by top tier VCs Spark Capital, Cedar Fund, OurCrowd and private investors. Learn more at www.getpixie.com.
About Spark Capital
Spark Capital is an early & growth stage venture capital firm that invests in startups led by creative thinkers. We partner with entrepreneurs who make products and services for consumers as well as business people and we are proud supporters of companies such as Oculus, Twitter, Warby Parker, Slack, Postmates, Cruise (acquired by GM), Wealthfront and Medium. We have offices in SoMa in San Francisco, Astor Place in New York City and the Back Bay in Boston.
Contact:
Cara Morgan
713-829-1794
[email protected]
SOURCE Pixie Technology Inc.
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