Ubiquity6, the AR platform that is enabling new ways for people to interact and imagine in the spaces they care about, today announced it raised $27M in Series B funding, led by Benchmark and Index Ventures. Additionally, the company announced the rollout of its first public beta experience at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the content of which was inspired by the museum's current René Magritte exhibit.

Today, AR experiences tend to be gimmicky, clunky, and determined by a handful of companies locking users into their ecosystems, which aren't compelling or seamless enough to captivate a mass audience. It's slowing innovation and preventing people from accessing powerful and captivating social interactions across time and space.

"Augmented reality could be one of the greatest inventions of our time, but there is no clear path to mass adoption. We believe that leveraging the millions of smartphones already in consumers' hands to create a meaningful shared experience is how we will unlock AR's full potential," said Anjney Midha, CEO and co-founder of Ubiquity6. "We previewed this technology by bringing over a hundred people together to play test the experience at the SFMOMA; eventually we will open up our tools for anyone to easily create and experience AR with those around them - from their two closest friends to hundreds of people."

Ubiquity6 has pioneered technological breakthroughs that have previously stumped industry incumbents, including the ability to have a massively shared augmented reality experience that persists through time. The Ubiquity6 engineering team built these breakthroughs using the most advanced machine learning techniques to precisely locate the phone and its physical surroundings.

A beta version of the Ubiquity6 technology was previewed for the first time at the SFMOMA on August 9th through PlaySFMOMA, the museum's initiative that encourages the development of avant-garde and experimental games. Attendees were able to step into the surrealist world of René Magritte to see his signature green apple and bowler hat through the app on their phones and build a virtual world with more than a hundred museum-goers. Video of the event here.

Digital video and photos from the multiplayer experience are available here.

In addition to the $27M in funding, Benchmark General Partner Mitch Lasky will be joining the Ubiquity6 board. Lasky has a long history in the entertainment business, having served as an executive at Disney, Activision, and Electronic Arts.

"I've been following the developments in virtual and augmented reality for years, and Ubiquity6 stood apart both for the boldness of their vision and for the broad applicability of their technology," said Lasky. "Not only has the team tackled complex technical hurdles, they've identified a business opportunity to create shared experiences easily from a mobile phone, making augmented reality a platform for creation, not simply consumption."

Those interested in experiencing the next Ubiquity6 public beta firsthand can sign up here.

About Ubiquity6

Ubiquity6 aims to unlock new ways for people to interact and imagine in their shared spaces. With augmented reality as the foundation, Ubiquity6 will elevate how humans communicate with each other and the world around them, ultimately creating the spatial internet. Founded in July 2017 by Anjney Midha and Ankit Kumar with investments from Benchmark, Index Ventures, First Round Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and Gradient Ventures. For more information visit Ubiquity6.com