Blippar

Blippar, which was one of the UK's first tech unicorns, specialises in augmented reality (AR) content creation and publishing to smartphones and the web.

Blippar
IndustryAugmented reality
Founded2011
Founders
HeadquartersLondon
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Preet Prasannan (CEO)
ProductsAugmented reality, content creation, design studio
Websitewww.blippar.com

Blippar's product offerings include in-house bespoke AR content creation, with a focus on mobile and WebAR, and a proprietary content creation and publishing platform, Blippbuilder, that enables users to create and publish AR content themselves. The company has its main offices in London.

Blippar has created AR campaigns for partners that include GSK, Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover, PepsiCo, Cadbury, L’Oréal, and Procter & Gamble. These campaigns have also included the world's first AR product launch, delivered in partnership with OnePlus Nord.[2]

History

2011–2018: founding and financial history

Blippar was founded in 2011 by Ambarish Mitra, Omar Tayeb and Steve Spencer, after a discussion about the possibility of Queen Elizabeth II ‘coming to life’ from a twenty pound note.

At its launch on Android and iOS in August 2011, Blippar teamed up with Cadbury, to invite chocolate fans to play an AR game triggered by its packaging.

From then, Blippar has worked with various brands and campaigns. In 2014 it launched a new platform for Google Glass,[3] enabling developers to create AR games using a person's eyes to control gameplay.[4]

In 2015, Blippar launched an R&D lab to explore “innovative use cases” – not just for AR, but also for virtual reality[5] (VR).

By the time of its $54 million Series D round of funding in early 2016,[6] Blippar had been doubling down on its broader machine learning and AI efforts, with 60 engineers in its San Francisco and Mountain View offices, and 300 employees spread across 14 offices globally.

Although Blippar was one of AR's early pioneers, it was ahead of its time when it was founded in 2011 and the company was placed into administration in December 2018.

2019–present: financial recovery

Blippar was bought out of administration in early 2019, when it sold its IP assets to an investment firm headed by Nick Candy.[7] At the same time, the company appointed Faisal Galaria as CEO.[8]

In 2021, Blippar secured a $5 million (approx €3.6 million) funding in a pre-Series A round, co-led by Chroma Ventures, the investment arm of Paddy Burns’ and Chris van der Kuyl's gaming company 4J Studios, and West Coast Capital; the private equity arm of Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter and family. Canadian entrepreneur Anthony Lacavera also contributed to the round through his Globalive Capital investment firm.

Awards and recognition

Blippar has been ranked in CNBC’s global ‘Disruptor 50’ list,[9] as well as being named top Business Innovator by Bloomberg,[10] and most innovative AR company by Fast Company in 2018.[11] Blippar has won awards including best AR app at Mobile World Congress in 2017.[12] The company was also shortlisted for the Most Effective Use of VR and AR at The Drum Awards for Digital Industries in 2020 for its work with OnePlus.[13]

References
  1. Lara O'Reilly (9 June 2016). "AR startup Blippar has launched the visual browser it says could be 'bigger than the internet itself'". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  2. Williams, Robert (22 July 2020). "OnePlus hosts 1st all-AR launch event for new smartphone". Marketing Dive. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021.
  3. Takashi, Dean (29 May 2014). "Blippar launches a platform for augmented reality games on Google Glass". Venturebeat. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014.
  4. Sawers, Paul (27 October 2015). "Blippar launches R&D lab and expands into virtual reality with an educational Google Cardboard app". Venturebeat. Archived from the original on 28 October 2015.
  5. Sawers, Paul (18 December 2018). "The rise and fall of augmented reality 'unicorn' Blippar". Venturebeat. Archived from the original on 20 December 2018.
  6. Crook, Jordan (2 March 2016). "Blippar augmented reality search engine raises $54 million Series D". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016.
  7. Sawers, Paul (23 January 2019). "Blippar to continue as a new augmented reality company after selling IP assets to investment fund". Venturebeat. Archived from the original on 9 September 2019.
  8. Oakes, Omar (3 July 2020). "'I'm not here to do a quick flip': Blippar's turnaround CEO Faisal Galaria eyes AR boom". Campaign. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020.
  9. "Blippar 2017 Disruptor 50". CNBC. 16 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017.
  10. "Bloomberg Business Innovators 2016". Bloomberg. 2016. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  11. "Most Innovative Companies - Blippar". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 19 February 2016.
  12. "Blippar Wins Best VR/AR App at Global Mobile Awards 2017". Blippar Website. 3 March 2017. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018.
  13. Lim, Eleanor (23 October 2020). "2020 nominations announced for The Drum Awards for Digital Industries". The Drum. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020.
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