Pokémon GOOOO-ing for the gold: Niantic is trying to catch a $200m funding round

Pokémon GO creator, Niantic, is raising a $200m Series C at a $3.9B valuation.

According to WSJ, if successful, the round would bring the company’s total funding to $400m, with VC firm IVP leading the charge, along with activity from strategic investors like Samsung and aXiomatic Gaming.

Investors are betting users still ‘gotta catch ’em all’

The San Francisco-based AR platform builder started within Google in 2010 and became its own entity in 2015. 

In 2016, Niantic’s Pokémon Go became an instant success and has remained steady, earning $2B since its 2016 release (mostly through in-app purchases).

The game was once the leader on Apple Inc.’s app store charts (and still remains in the top 200 most-downloaded US apps), but, according to App Annie Inc., Pokémon Go’s download rates have begun to decelerate. 

Nothing a little black magic can’t fix

As Confucius once said, “Never bring a Pokémon to do a Wizard’s job.”

Not true, but, the company does have an upcoming Harry Potter mobile-game in the works. Along with continued success of Pokémon Go,  investors are hoping Niantic can wave its magic wand and turn another franchise behemoth into a massive mobile phenom.