Redmond-based virtual reality technology company HaptX Inc. has raised $23 million.
With the funding, announced Thursday, HaptX plans to launch new products, building on its gloves that provide feedback to users in virtual reality. The company, founded in 2012, says it has now raised more than $58 million in total.
In a release, HaptX founder and CEO Jake Rubin said the investment will support "our efforts to build haptics so lifelike that users can't distinguish between the virtual and the real."
On its website, HaptX lists five open engineering roles, including software engineer and hardware engineering manager.
HaptX's gloves are what's called "haptic gloves," haptics tactile sensations devices provide to simulate physical experiences or communicate with users, such as when a cellphone buzzes with an incoming call. In addition to vibration and force, HaptX says its gloves "physically displace the user's skin the way a real object would" and provide "tactical" feedback. According to the company, clients use its gloves for training, robotics and industrial design.
In November, HaptX took issue with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. when the tech giant announced its own haptic gloves. Rubin said in a release at the time some of Meta's technology seemed "substantively identical to HaptX’s patented technology." At issue was the pneumatic technology that mimics the sensation of resistance and pressure associated with touch.
"While we have not yet heard from Meta, we look forward to working with them to reach a fair and equitable arrangement that addresses our concerns and enables them to incorporate our innovative technology into their future consumer products," Rubin said in a release at the time.
HaptX didn't provide an update on where things stand with Meta.
AIS Global and Crescent Cove Advisors led the $23 million round, while Verizon Ventures, Mason Avenue Investments and Taylor Frigon Capital Partners participated. Crescent Cove Advisors provided a $4 million credit facility to HaptX last year.
