Niantic raises $300M at $9B valuation as it guns for the real-world metaverse

Pokémon Go maker Niantic has raised $30o million from investor Coatue at a $9 billion valuation as it aims to build the real-world metaverse.

While Facebook/Meta is trying to build the metaverse on a foundation of virtual reality, Niantic has seen its success on location-based gaming with Pokémon Go. And that has made it partial to creating extensions of that game for its version of the metaverse. Techcrunch reported the news.

In other words, San Francisco-based Niantic believes the metaverse can be built with AR images overlaid on the real world. Hanke believes that the VR-based visions of the metaverse, like in Ready Player One, are more like a dystopian nightmare. In a speech at Augmented World Expo, Hanke criticized the dystopias.

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Niantic launches platform to build ‘real-world metaverse’ apps

Niantic is releasing a platform for building what it calls “real-world metaverse” apps. Called Lightship, the platform is “built around the parts necessary to stitch together the digital and the real world,” CEO John Hanke tells me. 

According to Hanke, Lightship will let mobile apps identify whether a user’s camera is pointed at the sky or water, map the surfaces and depth of an environment in real time, or place a virtual object behind a physical one.

Niantic is best known for creating one of the most successful mobile games ever, Pokémon Go. With Lightship, Hanke says the company is “opening the vault of tech that we’ve been using to build our products” to help others build “planet-scale AR apps.”

Lightship has been in development for quite some time. But starting Monday, it’s open for any developer to access. Most of the software toolkit is free, though Niantic will charge for a feature that can let multiple devices access shared AR experiences simultaneously. The company is also committing $20 million to fund new companies building AR apps.

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Cherokee Health Systems Partners with Noteworth to Boost Provider-patient Engagement, Value-based Care

JERSEY CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Noteworth, a virtual care delivery platform that uses remote patient monitoring, artificial intelligence and powerful data analysis tools to improve patient outcomes, today announced its partnership with Cherokee Health Systems (CHS). CHS is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) based in Tennessee that serves 75,000 patients annually in its 23 facilities and will utilize Noteworth’s digital health services to accelerate proactive interventions, boost clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction, and reduce care costs.

“Access to care for many patients of the U.S. population remains a challenge, especially in rural areas which makes the adoption of innovative digital health solutions so critical for FQHC’s like Cherokee,” said CHS’ Chief Information Officer Andy Rhea. “We are thrilled to partner with Noteworth and implement their platform to help us continue on our value-based care journey to deliver the best care possible.”

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Keanu Reeves Reveals BRZRKR R-Rated Movie & Animated Show Details

Keanu Reeves gives an update on his R-Rated live-action comic-book adaptation for Boom! Studios’ BRZRKR as well as the status of the animated show.

Keanu Reeves has provided an updated on the status of the live-action BRZRKR film, as well as the animated series. BRZRKR is a comic-book series written and created by Reeves and Matt Kindt and drawn by Ron Garney. The story focuses on an immortal warrior known simply as B., who battles his way through the ages, leading to modern day where he is used as a government weapon in exchange for their help in finding out his origins and how to end his life once and for all. The 12-issue series is currently running at Boom! Studios with the first trade paperback expected to debut this month.

Reeves came up with the concept for BRZRKR and developed it with writer Matt Kindt, coming on board to produce and star in the feature adaptation just as the first issue went to print. The live-action film will star Reeves, while he supplies his voice for the animated series. The debut issue of BRZRKR is one of the top-selling comics of the last decade, moving over 600K issues and sending it back for reprints, with subsequent issues selling out at comic shops around the world.

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Coterie Insurance banks $50M

Coterie Insurance has raised a $50 million Series B led by new investor Weatherford Capital. The Cincinnati-based company provides insurance for small businesses and allows agents and brokers to simplify and digitize their operations. Coterie raised an $11.5 million Series A1 in February.

Additional Investors

Alpha Edison, Group 1001, Intact Ventures, RPM Ventures

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