Lytro Funding, Investors & Competitors

Lytro has raised $166M across 5 funding rounds, most recently a $60M Series D in February 2017.

See full Lytro profile

Last Lytro funding round

$60M

Series D · Feb 2017

Cumulative funding Lytro raised

$166M

across 5 funding rounds

Key investors in Lytro

  • Andreessen Horowitz
  • New Enterprise Associates
  • North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity
  • SuRo Capital
  • Greylock
  • Correlation Ventures
  • DHVC
  • Qualcomm Ventures

Lytro Overview

About Lytro

Lytro is a Mountain View, California-headquartered developer of light field imaging technology founded in 2006. The company released its first consumer light field camera in 2012, followed by the Illum camera, desktop software, iOS app, and development kit in 2014. Lytro expanded into VR, cinematography, and industrial applications with products like Lytro Cinema for immersive video capture. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, and NEA, it provided post-capture refocusing and perspective shift capabilities to photographers, filmmakers, and researchers worldwide.


Founded

2006

HQ

United StatesSan Francisco, CA

Website

lytro.com

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B & B2C

Revenue model

Product sales

Lytro Funding History

Lytro has raised a total of $166M across 5 funding rounds.

Lytro's first fundraising round was a $40M Series B in November 2013. The most recent completed round was a $60M Series D in February 2017.

Lytro funding rounds

Lytro funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Feb 2017Series DBlue Pool Capital (lead); Foxconn; SuRo Capital; Qualcomm Ventures; Jaws Ventures; New Enterprise Associates; Andreessen Horowitz; EDBI; Huayi Brothers; North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity$60MLytro, a Mountain View, California-based developer of high-end light field cameras and image capture equipment, raised $60 million in a Series D funding round led by Blue Pool Capital, an investment firm backed by Alibaba founders Jack Ma and Joseph Tsai. Other investors included Andreessen Horowitz, EDBI, Foxconn, Huayi Brothers Media Group, Jaws Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity, Qualcomm Ventures, and SuRo Capital. The funding, announced around February 15, 2017, aimed to support Lytro's expansion into the Asian market for its cameras, leveraging the connections of Blue Pool Capital's backers. Lytro's technology focused on advanced imaging solutions, including products targeted at the TV and film industry as well as consumer and VR applications.
Feb 2016Series CHaiyin Capital (lead)$5M-
Feb 2015Undisclosed stageSuRo Capital (lead); DHVC; Allen & Company$50MLytro is a computational photography company founded in 2006 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, that developed light-field cameras enabling post-capture refocusing and perspective shifts in images, previously known as Refocus Imaging. The company raised a total of $200M across multiple rounds from investors including Google, New Enterprise Associates, Andreessen Horowitz, North Bridge Venture Partners, SuRo Capital, and others, with its latest event being an Acq - Talent by Google. Lytro's competitors include PhotoShelter, and the broader light field market was valued at $78.6 million in 2021, projected to reach $323 million by 2031.
Nov 2014Series CNew Enterprise Associates; Andreessen Horowitz; DHVC; TriplePoint Capital; Greylock; Correlation Ventures; North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity$11MLytro developed light-field camera technology enabling computational photography, allowing users to refocus pictures after capture and create interactive images. The company launched its first consumer camera in 2012, attracting early interest including from Steve Jobs. In November 2014, Lytro raised $10.5 million in a Series C round led by NEA, with participation from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock, New Enterprise Associates, North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity, DHVC, and TriplePoint Capital. This followed prior funding and preceded a larger $50 million Series C in February 2015 from Allen & Company, SuRo Capital, and DHVC to pivot toward virtual reality and immersive video, accompanied by layoffs of 25-50 employees out of 130. Lytro had raised nearly $140 million total by early 2015 from a broad investor base. The company shifted strategy amid challenges in consumer photography, later selling assets to Google in 2018 for $25-40 million after raising over $200 million, far below its $360 million valuation post-2017 round.
Nov 2013Series BNorth Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity (lead); SuRo Capital; New Enterprise Associates; K9 Ventures; Andreessen Horowitz; Greylock; Correlation Ventures$40MLytro, founded in 2006 by Dr. Ren Ng, developed light field cameras enabling post-capture refocusing and perspective shifts, transforming computational photography with interactive 'living pictures' shared online. The company raised $40 million on November 20, 2013, from North Bridge Venture Partners (new lead investor) and existing backers including Greylock Partners, to fuel growth and expand light field technology to new products and audiences. This round followed prior funding, supporting Lytro's mission to revolutionize picture-taking and experiencing. The financing aimed at business expansion amid competition in innovative camera tech.

Who has invested in Lytro?

17 investors have backed Lytro across its funding rounds, including Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates, North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity, SuRo Capital, Greylock and Correlation Ventures.

Lead investors include Blue Pool Capital, Haiyin Capital, SuRo Capital and North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity.


Lytro Investors

Investors in Lytro by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
SuRo CapitalUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA3LeadNov 2013
New Enterprise AssociatesUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA3ParticipantNov 2013
Andreessen HorowitzUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA3ParticipantNov 2013
North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth EquityUnited StatesBoston, MA3LeadNov 2013
DHVCUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA2ParticipantNov 2014
GreylockUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA2ParticipantNov 2013
Correlation VenturesUnited StatesSan Diego, CA2ParticipantNov 2013
FoxconnTaiwanTaipei1ParticipantFeb 2017
Qualcomm VenturesUnited StatesSan Diego, CA1ParticipantFeb 2017
Jaws VenturesUnited StatesMiami, FL1ParticipantFeb 2017
Blue Pool CapitalHong KongHong Kong1LeadFeb 2017
K9 VenturesUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantNov 2013
Haiyin CapitalChinaBeijing1LeadFeb 2016

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Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples

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Acquisitions by Lytro

Lytro has acquired 1 company to date.

Last acquisition by Lytro was on January 25th 2018. Lytro acquired Limitless for undisclosed valuation.


Latest Acquisitions by Lytro

Limitless
Description
Limitless is a Seattle-headquartered creator of the patent-pending Limitless Creative VR Environment platform. Founded in spring 2015, the platform accelerates development of interactive characters for film and game makers in virtual reality.
HQ CountryUnited States
HQ City
Seattle, WA
Deal Date25 Jan 2018
Valuationundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Lytro Competitors

Lytro competitors include listed companies like Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal Music, and private ones like Epic Games and Kakao Entertainment.

Public and private companies comparable to Lytro
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
NetflixUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$45B$30B$314B6.4x
DisneyUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$94B$19B$182B2.3x
Warner Bros. DiscoveryUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$37B$21B$71B2.8x
Universal MusicNetherlandsNetherlandsPublicly listed$14B$3B$31B2.4x
Epic GamesUnited StatesRaleigh, NCPrivate$5.7B-$23B3.9x
Kakao EntertainmentSouth KoreaSeongnamPrivate$1.2B-$7B5.8x

Lytro Public Comps

Lytro is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Universal Music, Liberty Media, Warner Music Group, TKO, Paramount Skydance, Toho and Bilibili.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Netflix$45B$30B7.1x6.4x10.6x19.8x
Disney$94B$19B2.4x2.3x12.3x10.3x
Warner Bros. Discovery$37B$21B2.7x2.8x4.8x12.0x
Universal Music$14B$3B2.5x2.4x11.9x11.5x
Liberty Media$4.5B$1.4B6.2x5.9x20.1x23.3x
Warner Music Group$6.7B$1B2.9x2.6x18.6x11.0x
TKO$4.7B$1.3B4.9x4.2x17.5x11.1x
Paramount Skydance$29B($5.1B)0.9x0.9x(5.4x)7.6x

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Common questions about Lytro

When was Lytro founded?Lytro was founded in 2006.
Where is Lytro headquartered?Lytro is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States.
Is Lytro publicly listed?No, Lytro is a private, VC-backed company.
How much funding has Lytro raised?Lytro has raised $166M across 5 funding rounds.
What was Lytro's last funding round?Lytro's last funding round was a $60M Series D in February 2017, led by Blue Pool Capital.
Who are Lytro's investors?Lytro's investors include SuRo Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Andreessen Horowitz, North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity, DHVC, Greylock, Correlation Ventures, Foxconn, Qualcomm Ventures, Jaws Ventures and 7 others.
Which companies are comparable to Lytro?Companies comparable to Lytro include Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Universal Music, Epic Games and Kakao Entertainment.
How many companies has Lytro acquired?Lytro has acquired 1 company, including Limitless.

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