PIF in talks to invest $400 mln in a US tech startup

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is in talks to invest $400 million in US-based tech startup, Magic Leap, the Financial Times reported.

The deal between the US company and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The startup raised $502 million in October in a funding round led by Singaporean investment firm Temasek Holdings.

The PIF investment will add the Saudi wealth fund to other high-profile investors backing Magic Leap, including Google, Alibaba, and Fidelity.

The deal would be PIF’s second major investment in the US technology industry, after injecting $3.5 billion in Uber in 2016.

Magic Leap is a Florida-based mixed-reality start-up. Backed by big names like Qualcomm Ventures, Alibaba, Morgan Stanley, Google and Fidelity, the company is valued near $ 5 billion, according to CB Insights.

In December 2017, Magic Leap announced its first product: a stand-alone mixed-reality headset called 'Lightwear' with a portable power and processing pack.