Illumix, a San Francisco-based technology startup that is creating the platform and foundational infrastructure for digital-physical interactions, announced today that it has closed an $18 million Series A round of funding. New investors include LightShed Ventures, Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR & Co, and Matthew Ball, CEO of Epyllion and international bestselling author of “The Metaverse,” with previous investors Maveron and Lightspeed renewing their participation. Also joining this round of funding are Mark Cuban of “Shark Tank,” Sony Innovation Fund, RW3 Ventures, OV, Visible Ventures and Xavier Niel.

Illumix has helped lead the global progression from passive 2D digital experiences to 3D immersive experiences through its seamless cross-platform infrastructure. In commerce, Illumix has led to increases of over 13% in conversion and over 75% in engagement for sites leveraging its virtual try-on infrastructure. Similarly in entertainment, as a result of Illumix’s infrastructure, Five Nights at Freddy’s AR had a huge uptick in customer acquisition and engagement, garnering over 40 million downloads organically and reaching over 70% engagement with AR.

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Illumix has already powered over 300 million digital-physical interactions across web and mobile in the past two years alone. This round of funding will accelerate the company’s continued expansion to new categories, as the company propels the digital-physical evolution forward.

“I am thrilled to announce this round of funding, which establishes Illumix as the backbone of the global shift to more immersive experiences,” said Kirin Sinha, CEO and Founder of Illumix. “The ways in which consumers engage with digital content are evolving to be more interactive and personalized. Digital-physical content will become the standard, like streamlined ticketing in live events, or reviews in commerce are today, and Illumix is powering this transformation.”

“Illumix’s powerful yet easy-to-use platform will alter the ways in which hundreds of millions interact with the real world—and without requiring consumers to adopt new sorts of devices, nor businesses to redesign their tech stacks or strategies,” said Ball.

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Illumix provides a full-stack solution featuring proprietary computer vision algorithms, graphics, and optimization with a seamless end user experience and integration into existing apps or websites. The company’s platform eliminates the need for brands to heavily invest the time and money into building the capabilities internally and maintain it against evolving platforms and technology. Illumix’s proprietary onboarding process replaces manual procedures that typically take several days per item with the company’s automated system that takes only minutes per item and completes a full integration in hours.

“Illumix has industry leading technology that has both the utility and accessibility to drive mass consumer adoption. The most important technology companies are betting on a mixed reality future, and Illumix has laid the groundwork to be a core platform underlying this technological shift,” said Richard Greenfield, General Partner at LightShed Partners.

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