2016 Will Break All Electronic User Interfaces VC Funding Records: Analyzing the Trends and Leaders from the $7 Billion Invested

Venture capital (VC) firms have invested $7 billion into electronic user interface (EUI) technologies, and with $1.1 billion invested in Q1, 2016 will shatter the annual record of $1.3 billion set in 2014. While the amount of funding continues to increase, the technologies receiving the funding have evolved significantly, as newcomers like augmented and virtual reality have been garnering much of the funding over the past several years. In addition, those providing funding have also been changing, as corporate venture capital (CVC) has become more active in recent years, participating in more than 70 funding rounds since 2014. Intel, Samsung, Qualcomm, Google, and BASF were the most active CVCs, but their portfolios vary widely as, for example, Google and Samsung made investments throughout the virtual reality value chain, while Intel maintains a broader portfolio across 2D displays, augmented reality, voice controls, touch controls, and virtual reality.