Niantic raises $200M ahead of Harry Potter game launch

Pokémon Go creator Niantic has raised $200 million in funding, reports The Wall Street Journal. The Series B funding round was led by Spark Capital including participation from Founders Fund, Meritech, Javelin Venture Capital, You & Mr. Jones and NetEase. Spark partner Megan Quinn is also joining Niantic’s board as part of the new financing deal.

The news comes just a few weeks after Niantic, the maker of Pokemon Go, announced that it is working on a Harry Potter AR game called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, where “players will learn spells, explore their real world neighborhoods and cities to discover & fight legendary beasts and team up with others to take down powerful enemies.”

Pokemon Go, released in July 2016, and managed to attract massive interest at launch, resulting in huge real-world gatherings of players thanks to its mechanic of incentivizing players to move around in the real world to achieve in-game success.

Earlier this year, Niantic announced its first acquisition, of mobile social network developer Evertoon