LeVR Technology Ltd., the virtual reality arm of LeEco Holdings Co. Ltd., is currently undergoing a round of financing worth more than 300 million yuan ($45 million), China Daily reported.
The lead investor in the fund-raising is Shenzhen China Bridge Investment Fund, the wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing China Bridge Capital Management Co. Ltd.
The investment fund is expected to reach about 3 billion yuan once completed, which is higher than the 1.45 billion yuan estimated value of Baofeng Mojing, currently the highest-valued VR company in the country.
On Thursday, June 23, the stock price of Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp., LeEco's publicly listed arm, dropped 0.21 percent to close at 46.9 yuan, while the startup board ChiNext fell 0.34 percent to 2,137.49 points.
Beijing China Bridge Capital and LeEco have been working together as Jia Yueting, LeEco's chairman and founder, had transferred in October last year 100 million shares to Beijing China Bridge Capital, which held 5.39 percent of stake in LeEco.
In March, Beijing China Bridge Capital formed and led a special 1-billion-yuan fund investment in LeEco's cloud computing services. The two companies have also set up a 10-billion-yuan fund to help acquire companies engaged in business similar to LeEco's.
LeEco entered the VR industry in April last year and launched its large movie-watching helmet and released its first VR headset, Le Cool 1, eight months later. In addition to hardware, it said it would also provide video games, VR movies, education and sports broadcasting services in the coming years.
According to statistics from global market consulting firm Analysys International, China's VR industry is expected to grow by 372.2 percent this year, with the total market value reaching 850 million yuan. By next year, the growth rate will reach 151.4 percent and the total sales revenue will surpass 2 billion yuan.
The total shipments of VR headsets will reach 6.3 million units by the end of this year, 40 percent of these will be bought by Chinese consumers, Canalys, a technology consultancy, said.
A survey conducted by HTC Corp. on 6,000 Chinese consumers in May showed that 19 percent of them are willing to buy a VR equipment in six month, while only 12 percent are interested in the U.S.