UK augmented reality startup Blippar is raising an additional $37m (£28.2m) amid mounting losses.
According to Sky News, investors are thought to have committed funding for the new round over the past few weeks.
Launched eight years ago, Blippar has to date raised more than $130m and this new round will bring the total to over $150m.
Much was written about the company last year, though. The FT revealed that Blippar’s founder Amarish Mitra had embellished his CV and seemingly lied about attending the London School of Economics.
Some time after that, Business Insider wrote a piece which raised questions about the business, highlighting the apparent lack of traction the company had gained despite raising a substantial amount from investors.
Business accounts submitted at Companies House reflect Blippar suffered a loss of £34.4m in year ending March 2017 – a considerable increase from a loss of £24.2m reported during a 16-month period a year earlier.
To explain the losses, Blippar said they were due to “prioritising investment into cutting-edge technology over short-term profits”. It also said it had ceased operations in Japan, the Netherlands and Turkey as it looked to decrease costs.