Chinese augmented reality (AR) startup Rokid has raised $112m in funding at a $1bn valuation, reported Bloomberg.

The investment, which takes the total funds raised by the AR company to nearly $200m, will be used to expand overseas operations.

Established in 2014, Rokid is engaged in researching and developing hardware and software offerings such as AR glasses and the YodaOS operating system.

In a separate statement, gaming, and education industry company NetDragon said it has invested $20m in Rokid as the lead investor in AR company’s latest equity funding round.

Concurrently, NetDragon and Rokid have signed a five-year deal to explore metaverse prospects worldwide utilising Rokid’s AR technologies.

According to NetDragon, the investment and alliance will support more advanced user experiences, which will serve as the foundation for the future metaverse.

NetDragon group vice-chairman and executive director Simon Leung said: “We see AR becoming a key channel for users to interact in the metaverse, and will significantly broaden the number and variety of use cases, especially in education and gaming.

“Our partnership with Rokid will open up opportunities for us to design products with a new level of user experience with the application of AR technologies, and at the same time accelerate our go-to-market for our AR-enabled product offerings.”

Rokid founder and CEO Misa Zhu said: “We are happy to have NetDragon onboard as not just our investor but also our close strategic partner going forward.

“We look forward to working with NetDragon to expand our opportunities by leveraging their knowledge and know-how in education and gaming, as well as their global sales network.”

Rokid’s other backers include Temesak, IDG, Fosun, Haitong and Walden.

Earlier this month, US tech major Meta teamed up with China’s Tencent to offer low-cost virtual reality headsets in China.