Pimax Raises $30 Million Series C Funding for High-End Virtual Reality Headsets
Chinese virtual reality headset manufacturer Pimax recently closed a $30 million funding round. The fresh infusion of cash has been earmarked for the company’s growth and shipping improvements.
Pimax is now known for its high-resolution and wide-field-of-view PC VR headsets. However, the hardware maker has been plagued with frequent delays and postponements, and, unlike Meta, its product lineup is rather confusing. The company has recently successfully closed a series C1 funding round that will go a long way in fortifying its reliability and focus.
The latest funding round was led by Beijing-based investment firm Danmu Capital. The company’s financial position has been strengthened at a critical time when it is rolling out its new lineup of virtual reality hardware. The latest funding round comes after a Series B funding round in 2020 where the company netted $20 million and a Series A funding round in 2017 when it raised $15 million.
Pimax is Focusing on High-End VR Headsets
Here are Pimax’s new and yet-to-be-launched headsets:-
- The Pimax Crystal is a standalone virtual reality headset that has interchangeable aspherical lenses. The display has a 160Hz refresh rate.
- The Pimax Portal is a handheld VR hybrid very much like the Nintendo Switch.
- The Pimax Reality 12K will be launched later in 2013.
Pimax says the new funding will into a few main areas in its business. The infusion of capital will help Pimax meet the growing demand for its Crystal and Portal devices. The fresh working capital will also go into expanding Pimax’s business operations to enable the company better serve both enterprise and end users. The funding will also go into investment in research and development in existing core competencies of the company.
Pimax’s edge over its competitors is its virtual reality headsets that have a higher resolution and larger field of view and there are prospects that have wanted the company to focus its efforts on its portfolio of products that are better designed so it can support these in a sustainable way.
Its Pimax 8K headset was funded via Kickstarter in 2017 and was already giving users a huge field of view of 200 degrees which is also reflected in its wide casing. The Valve Index is widely praised for its large view which is only 130 degrees while the PlayStation VR 2 headset has a field of view of roughly 110 degrees.
Pimax Pursuing Fast Growth
Pimax is pursuing its rapid growth and has offices in several cities across the globe including in San Jose, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Stockholm, Shanghai, and Qingdao.
Pimax doesn’t outsource its hardware production and has its own facility in China, unlike the likes of Meta and Apple.
The company has over 300 employees across the world.
Pimax Portal Deliveries Still Grappling With Delays
At the moment, the company is busy fulfilling the deliveries of the Pimax Portal hybrid devices to early crowdfunding campaign backers.
Pimax was initially planning to fulfill all orders by Christmas 2022 but once again, the company was plagued with delays. The fulfillment of these initial orders was pushed to the end of January but it failed to meet this deadline too.
In a Kickstarter update on January 2023, the company said that the latest delays in the supply chain had been occasioned by numerous COVID-19 illnesses.
The latest targeted date for the Pimax Portal headset deliveries was posted as “February at the earliest.”
Users can order the Pimax Crystal virtual reality headset from the company’s official website.
https://virtualrealitytimes.com/2023/03/07/pimax-raises-30-million-series-c-funding-for-high-end-virtual-reality-headsets/https://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Pimax-Lineup-of-VR-headsets-devices-and-accessories-600x395.pnghttps://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Pimax-Lineup-of-VR-headsets-devices-and-accessories-150x90.pngBusinessChinese virtual reality headset manufacturer Pimax recently closed a $30 million funding round. The fresh infusion of cash has been earmarked for the company’s growth and shipping improvements. Pimax is now known for its high-resolution and wide-field-of-view PC VR headsets. However, the hardware maker has been plagued with frequent delays...Rob GrantRob Grant[email protected]AuthorVirtual Reality Times - Metaverse & VR