Leap Motion
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| Industry | Motion control |
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| Founded | November 1, 2010 |
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| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Website | www |
Leap Motion, Inc. is an American company that manufactures and markets a computer hardware sensor device that supports hand and finger motions as input, analogous to a mouse, but requires no hand contact or touching. In 2016, the company released new software designed for hand tracking in virtual reality.
The technology for Leap Motion was first developed in 2008, while co-founder David Holz was studying for a Ph.D. in mathematics. Following an initial angel investment, Holz co-founded the company in 2010 with his childhood friend Michael Buckwald. The company raised a $1.3M seed financing round in June 2011 with investments from venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, and SOSV, as well as several angel investors. In May 2012, Leap Motion announced a $12.75M Series A funding round led by Highland Capital Partners. In January 2013, Leap Motion announced a further series B round of funding for $30M.
After operating in quiet since 2010, Leap Motion publicly announced its first product, originally called The Leap, on May 21, 2012. The company launched a software developer program in October 2012 and distributed roughly 12,000 units to developers interested in creating applications for the device. While the device was slated to launch in May 2013, full-scale shipping was later delayed until July. In March 2014, it was reported in TechCrunch that roughly 500,000 units had been sold, far short of initial expectations; as a result, Leap Motion announced layoffs for 10 percent of its workforce, primarily in sales and marketing.
On April 7, 2014 COO Andy Miller left the company. In May 2014, Leap Motion released its version 2 software to developers in a public beta. In August 2014, the company launched a VR tracking mode for its core software, designed to provide hand tracking while the device is mounted on virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift. Later that year, Leap Motion launched a global game jam in partnership with independent games festival IndieCade with over $75,000 in prizes. The competition received over 150 submissions. A second competition in 2015 resulted in 189 entries.
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