Google Set to Lead $500 Million Investment in Magic Leap: Report

Google Inc and other investors are planning to invest about $500 million (approximately Rs. 3,047 crores) in hardware and software developer Magic Leap Inc to deliver "cinematic reality", technology website Re/Code said, citing sources.

Google is leading the funding round for the company, the website cited sources as saying.

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz may be one of the other investors in the consortium, Re/Code said.

Google, Andreessen Horowitz and Magic Leap could not be reached for a comment outside of business hours.

Last week, Google Ventures funded app Snowball hit Google Play, a unified messaging platform that supports SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, Twitter, Line, WeChat, Snapchat, and Slack. It acts as an inbox for notifications from all these apps. The app uses chat heads for notifications, similar to the pop-ups Facebook Messenger shows on the Android home screen.

Google Ventures in July launched a fund devoted to nurturing promising tech startups in Europe.

The Silicon Valley-based Internet titan had said it was setting up a Google Ventures office with a mission of backing European entrepreneurs and putting $100 million (approximately Rs. 609 crores) into its account as a start.

"Our goal is simple: we want to invest in the best ideas from the best European entrepreneurs, and help them bring those ideas to life," Google Ventures managing partner Bill Maris said.

Written with inputs from Reuters