Magic Leap raises $350 million and puts layoffs on hold

Magic Leap has been struggling for quite a while now, but the past year has been especially difficult due to poor sales and the coronavirus pandemic. Back in April, the company announced that it’s laying off employees at every level, and The Information reported that around 1,000 people would lose their jobs. Now, the mixed-reality headset-maker has finally caught a break — according to Business Insider and The Information, company chief Rony Abovitz told his employees in a memo that Magic Leap has managed to raise $350 million from existing and new investors.

As a result, Abovitz has reportedly withdrawn the layoff notices sent to remaining staff in April. It’s unclear how many employees lost their jobs before this, but those still with the company won’t have to worry about getting laid off in the near future at least. Despite the hardships the company has had to face in recent years, Magic Leap started strong and raised $2.6 billion to develop its mixed reality headset. Unfortunately, that’s yet to translate to commercial success. Bloomberg reported in March that the company chose to shift its focus on business and to start finding a buyer for a sale that could fetch up to $10 billion due to the lackluster sales of its AR headset.