Pimax, the Chinese language startup recognized for its extensive field-of-view (FOV) PC VR headsets, has secured a further ¥CN100 million (~$13.6 million USD) in an extension to its Sequence C funding.
In response to an preliminary report from 36Kr (Chinese language), the funding spherical was led by Zhuji Jingchuang Rong Funding Co, and supported by earlier investor Ivy Capital, which took half within the firm’s $20 million Sequence B in 2020. This brings to firm’s general outdoors funding to $82.7 million, in line with Crunchbase information.
Pimax says its newest funding spherical will permit it to additional increase its R&D group within the US, and set up a brand new R&D group in Europe. The 36Kr report maintains Pimax’s buyer base is essentially outdoors of China, accounting for as a lot as 80% of the corporate’s headset gross sales.
“That is primarily as a result of firm’s steady R&D and innovation capabilities, full product matrix structure, and mature abroad market technique,” Pimax founder Robin Weng advised 36Kr. “Additionally it is as a result of common development of the worldwide high-end VR market getting into a secure and speedy development monitor.”
Since its founding in 2015, Pimax is finest recognized for its wide-FOV PC VR headsets, resembling its newest ‘Crystal’ collection headsets. The corporate has additionally proven growing curiosity within the burgeoning slim and lightweight headset class with the announcement of Dream Air in December, a slim and feature-rich PC VR headset.
Priced at $1,900 and anticipated to launch in Could 2025, the corporate additionally announce an optionally available puck-style compute unit ‘Cobb’, which homes a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset for standalone VR.
Whereas Pimax has garnered a formidable quantity of funding over time, and largely delivered on its most vital guarantees, the corporate has some notable challenges forward.
In November, Pimax launched a brand new fee mannequin shifting ahead, permitting clients to purchase their headsets at a lower cost and take a look at both its Crystal Gentle or soon-to-launch Crystal Tremendous risk-free for 14 days. As an alternative of shopping for a headset at its full MSRP, the brand new construction places requires the person to make a further one-time fee after the trial interval as a way to acquire continued entry to the headset’s required software program.
Whereas this system was initially introduced to incorporate a 10-day trial interval, the corporate rapidly modified course to supply a further 4 days after neighborhood backlash, and likewise an ostensible realization that it was obligated to supply 14 days as per client safety legal guidelines within the EU and UK.
Extra lately, the announcement of Dream Air appears to proceed Pimax’s tendency to reveal new merchandise earlier than delivering on these it has beforehand introduced. Revealed again in April 2024, the corporate’s Crystal Tremendous headset was initially deliberate to launch someday in This fall 2024, nonetheless that was delayed to Q1 2025.
First batches containing the QLED 57 PPD optical engine are anticipated to begin transport on the finish of January, with extra optical engines slated to launch in March and April, the corporate tells us in a latest Q&A.
As for Dream Air’s separate compute unit, Cobb, Pimax says its has “no precise ETA,” as the corporate nonetheless needs “so as to add some options that we didn’t talk in our Frontier announcement.” Based mostly on Pimax’s previous strategy, it’s potential we might hear extra bulletins earlier than Cobb reaches shoppers.
