Sequoia India Pumps $7 Mn in AR Platform Avataar.me The Bengaluru-based startup plans to deploy the fresh capital towards its research and development (R&D) initiatives.

Augmented Reality (AR) platform Avataar.me said on Thursday it has raised USD 7 million as part of its Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital India.

The Bengaluru-based startup plans to deploy the fresh capital towards its research and development (R&D) initiatives.

Founded in 2016 by Prashanth Aluru, Sravanth Aluru, Gaurav Baid and Mayank Tiwari, Avataar.me helps its enterprise clients create immersive shopping experience for end-users.

"AR/VR has shown strong emotional connect with GenZ and younger millennial consumers, a segment that brands have struggled to engage with in recent years and a segment that has far more spending power today than they did five years ago," said co-founder and CEO Aluru.

The company said in its official statement that its vision is to bridge the gap between offline-online experiences by replacing the current 2D visuals with life-size and hyper-realistic 3D XR/AR experiences. There already exist 10 US patents behind Avataar's plug and play platform.

"In 2019, more than 300 million users were actively using AR. Spends on AR tools for creating social engagement for brands along with "try-before-you-buy' experiences is expected to grow 10X by 2023. Undoubtedly, the time for AR/VR is now, with ecommerce being one of the broadest applications," said Shailesh Lakhani, managing director, Sequoia Capital India.

The company claims to work with e-commerce, consumer electronics, auto OEMs and FMCG companies across the US, India and Southeast Asia. It said it is able to drive significant RoI outcomes for brands across these sectors by empowering XR and AR consumer experiences across all their touchpoints—social, web and in-app.

Next year, Avataar plans to enter other major AR markets such as the UK, Germany and Japan, the company said in its statement.