HaptX closes $23M strategic funding round to finance commercialization of next-gen products

In General XR News

September 15, 2022 – HaptX, a provider of realistic haptic technology, has today announced a USD $23 million strategic funding round led by AIS Global and Crescent Cove Advisors, with participation from Verizon Ventures, Mason Avenue Investments, and Taylor Frigon Capital Partners. This investment now brings HaptX’ total funding to more than USD $58 million.

According to the company, the proceeds from this latest financing round will be used to fund commercialization of next-generation products building on the success of HaptX’ award-winning HaptX Gloves DK2.

Unlike other haptic gloves, many of which are limited to vibration and force feedback, HaptX Gloves use more than 130 points of tactile feedback per hand to physically displace a user’s skin the way a real object would, which helps to deliver a greater level of realism and deeper immersion.

HaptX stated that its gloves are used by Fortune 500 companies and governments around the world for some of the most demanding applications in training and simulation, industrial design, and robotics.

HaptX Gloves enable natural interaction and true-contact haptics in virtual reality (VR) and robotics.

In conjunction with today’s funding announcement, HaptX has also extended its partnership with AIS Global, a portfolio company of New York-based KPS Capital Partners. Commenting on the announcement, Joe Baddeley, Chief Executive Officer of AIS Global, said: “HaptX and AIS Global have built a deep, successful relationship dedicated to innovation at the cutting edge of the high-growth global haptics market. AIS Global and KPS are thrilled to provide the resources, commitment, and expertise necessary to support aggressive scaling of HaptX’s commercial footprint.”

San Francisco-based backer, Crescent Cove Advisors, also substantially increased its investment in HaptX in this funding round after providing a USD $4 million credit facility to HaptX in 2021. Jun Hong Heng, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Crescent Cove Advisors, commented: “HaptX has succeeded in generating tremendous customer demand across a wide array of use cases. We believe HaptX will play a foundational role in fulfilling the promise of the Metaverse as an immersive 3D successor to today’s 2D internet.”

Finally, Jake Rubin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HaptX, said: “We are proud to have the commitment of partners like AIS Global and Crescent Cove fueling our efforts to build haptics so lifelike that users can’t distinguish between the virtual and the real.” Rubin added, “This funding will enable HaptX to build on the success of HaptX Gloves DK2 with exciting new products that will redefine virtual and robotic interactions.”

For more information on HaptX and its haptic technology solutions, please visit the company’s website.

Image credit: HaptX

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.