Augmented reality game Snatch has won £4.4m in seed funding from a raft of investors, including the co-founder of Lastminute.com
The startup, established by British co-founders Joe Martin and Jamal Hirani, officially launches its app in the UK this week. It has attracted backing from LastMinute.com founder and cexecutive chairman of First Minute Capital Brent Hoberman CBE. The funding round was led by Initial Captial and also included investment from CrunchFund and Silicon Valley Bank.
Read more: An app taking the hassle out of repeat prescriptions raises £7m
The Snatch app creates an immersive treasure hunt on the user's smarthphone linked to the world around them, similar to hit game Pokemon Go, but offers real prizes. Brands already signed up include Heineken, Missguided, Boohoo and Samsung.
Chief executive and co-founder Joe Martin said: "We want to challenge how brands reach and engage consumers, and in doing so we’re shaking up both gaming and marketing, through the use of augmented reality, to deliver more to both."
The funding will be used to grow the app in the UK and plan a US launch. The company has offices in London and San Francisco and has previously received funding from Unilever Ventures.
Brent Hoberman commented: “We always look for globally ambitious founders building businesses with digital at their core and we’re confident that Snatch is precisely that: a digital-first business at the cutting edge of consumer technology that’s exploiting new emerging technologies to redefine how brands market to consumers."
Read more: Let’s make SMEs the winners in Treasury push to boost business funding
