Ultraleap, which develops ultrasound-based hand tracking tech and touchless interfaces for VR/XR headsets, raises an $82M Series D from Tencent and others
It was way back in 2017 that the company that became Ultraleap (Ultrahaptics, as weas) demonstrated at TechCrunch Disrupt a technology … Source: PR Newswire and Media4growth .
Context & Ripple Effects
Ultraleap’s financing follows Ultrahaptics’ earlier $23M Series B for touchless interfaces and the reported sale of gesture-tracking pioneer Leap Motion to UltraHaptics. The Series D gives the combined VR/XR interface effort a substantially larger capital base.
The related coverage also shows a competing haptics path: HaptX raised funding for glove-based feedback in industrial VR and robotics. Ultraleap’s approach centers on hand tracking and ultrasound-based touchless interaction rather than worn gloves.
First-order effects
- Ultraleap receives $82M from Tencent and other investors to fund its hand-tracking and touchless-interface development for VR/XR headsets.
- Tencent adds a direct investment in an XR interface supplier, extending its exposure beyond content or distribution to a component of the headset interaction stack.
Second-order effects
- HaptX and other haptics suppliers face a better-funded alternative for applications where users or headset makers prefer interaction without gloves or controllers.
- VR/XR headset makers gain a more strongly financed prospective supplier for hand-tracking and touchless-input components, strengthening the case for multiple input methods rather than controller-only designs.
Third-order effects
- The funding and Ultraleap’s earlier Leap Motion transaction point toward XR interaction consolidating around companies that can combine tracking and feedback technologies, rather than selling a single input modality.
- If headset adoption broadens, capital concentration among interface suppliers may determine which interaction approaches become integrated components and which remain specialized peripherals.
The trend: XR interaction is moving toward integrated hand-tracking and touchless-feedback stacks, with well-capitalized suppliers competing against wearable haptics and conventional controllers.