Niantic raises another $5m in Series A

Niantic, creator of the innovative Ingress mobile game, has just secured an additional $5 million as part of its Series A financing. It's previously received $20 million in funding from The Pokémon Company, Google and Nintendo.

This latest round of funding came from Alsop Louie Partners, You & Mr Jones, Fuji TV and angel investors Cyan and Scott Banister, and Lucas Nealan and as part of the deal Gilman Louie will join the board of directors at Niantic.

"Niantic was founded on the concept of building interactive experiences using mobile technology to encourage people to engage with the world around them," said CEO John Hanke.

"We've seen players accomplish amazing things and we expect this to continue with the launch of Pokémon GO later this year. I'm delighted to be adding this set of partners to the Niantic family. Each brings a unique capability to our team."

Niantic started life as part of Google, but became independent last August. In October it announced the Nintendo investment and just last month revealed that Ingress has seen over 14 million downloads since its release in 2012.

"We're impressed with the innovative work that John and his team at Niantic started at Google and are continuing to deliver against as an independent company," added Louie, partner at Alsop Louie Partners and new board member.

"During my tenure at In-Q-Tell, I led the investment in John's third company, Keyhole -- which was acquired by Google and eventually became Google Earth -- and have seen firsthand what is possible under his leadership. I am also thrilled and honored to be joining the Niantic Board of Directors and look forward to helping them realize their full potential in the emerging AR/VR/MR market."