NetDragon completes US$20M investment in Rokid, forms strategic partnership to target metaverse opportunities

NetDragon Websoft Holdings (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, has completed a strategic investment of US$20 million as the lead investor in the latest equity fundraising round of Rokid (“Rokid”), and in parallel with the investment, the two companies have signed a 5-year strategic partnership agreement to pursue metaverse opportunities globally with Rokid’s state-of-the-art Augmented Reality (AR) technologies.

As a global leader in building internet communities, NetDragon specializes in scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms in both gaming and education sectors. The Company’s achievements in the education field, recognized globally, make it an expert in leveraging technology to improve learning experiences. Similarly, as a world-renowned company in AR technologies, Rokid is in a unique position to offer comprehensive technology solutions that include hardware, software, and operating systems. This investment and partnership will accelerate the creation of next-generation interactive user experiences that will form the backbone of tomorrow’s metaverse. Rokid is currently backed by renowned investors and industry players including IDG, Walden, Fosun, Haitong, Temesak, etc.

Dr. Simon Leung, NetDragon Vice Chairman and Executive Director said, “We are excited with our investment in Rokid as we believe AR will be one of the core technologies to enable the metaverse in the years to come. We see AR becoming a key channel for users to interact in the metaverse, and will significantly broaden the number and variety of uses 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.” 

Mr. Misa Zhu, the Founder and CEO of Rokid, said: “We are happy to have NetDragon onboard as not just our investor but also our close strategic partner going forward. As a unicorn in the rapidly growing AR industry, Rokid is a product-oriented platform company focusing on human-computer interaction technology with a strong track record in multiple industrial and consumer applications. 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. We believe that the combination of NetDragon and Rokid will bring new momentum in product development and breakthrough innovation to the industry.”