Blippar, which was one of the UK's first tech

unicorns The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years or ...

, specialises in

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory Modality (human–computer interaction), modalities, including visual, Hearing, auditory, hap ...

(AR) content creation and publishing to smartphones and the web. 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 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Blippar has created AR campaigns for partners that include GSK, Porsche,

Jaguar Land Rover Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited (also known as JLR), and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is ...

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the man ...

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

, L’Oréal, and

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

. These campaigns have also included the world's first AR product launch, delivered in partnership with OnePlus Nord.

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 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

‘coming to life’ from a

twenty pound note Twenty or 20 may refer to: * 20 (number), the natural number following 19 and preceding 21 * one of the years 20 BC, AD 20, 1920, 2020 Music Albums * ''20'' (2nd Chapter of Acts album), 1992 * ''20'' (Cunter album), 2011 * ''20'' (Drag ...

. At its launch on Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

in August 2011, Blippar teamed up with

, 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 Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a brand of smart glasses developed and sold by Google. It was developed by X (previously Google X), with the mission of producing an ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using ...

, enabling developers to create AR games using a person's eyes to control gameplay. In 2015, Blippar launched an R&D lab to explore “innovative use cases” – not just for AR, but also for

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

(VR). By the time of its $54 million Series D round of

funding Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm us ...

in early 2016, 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 Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

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. At the same time, the company appointed Faisal Galaria as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

. 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 Anthony Lacavera is a Canadian businessman, venture capitalist, television host, and philanthropist. He is founder, chairman, and former CEO of Globalive, a Toronto-based telecommunications and investment company. He has also founded several oth ...

also contributed to the round through his Globalive Capital investment firm.

Awards and recognition

Blippar has been ranked in

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sh ...

’s global ‘Disruptor 50’ list, as well as being named top Business Innovator by

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ...

, and most innovative AR company by

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan We ...

in 2018. Blippar has won awards including best AR app at Mobile World Congress in 2017. 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.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Augmented reality applications Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom