The Big One

You know much about Magic Leap? Me neither. But the under-the-radar Florida company just raised $542M from a powerful group of investors including Google, A16Z, Legendary Pictures and Kleiner Perkins. Right now their technology acts like a pair of glasses and differs from other virtual reality in that it projects images directly into the user’s eyes, “replicating the visual perception system of the human brain.” The science and dollar amount are tough to wrap your head around, but the investors make sense. Google (just Google, not Google Ventures) led the way and has two execs joining the Magic Leap board – obvious connection to Google Glass here, though they announced it won’t be integrated to start, and puts them head on with Facebook/Oculus. Legendary andThomas Tull will look at it from an entertainment perspective, as this could represent the next evolution in movie technology.

Making Moves

Bethesda-based Telcare raised $34.7M in a mix of debt and equity financing. Telcare uses machine-to-machine cellular tech to connect patients and doctors. They’ve focused on diabetes with their glucose meter and are in an interesting position given the increased progress in wearable health technology. While ahead of most competitors in its design and compatibility with iPhone and Android – it’s a much more heated space now.

Apple killed their earnings yesterday, beating estimates with with $1.42 EPS, $42.1 billion in revenue (up 11% YoY) It’s amazing how a company of Apple’s size continues to chug along, with Cook saying it was their strongest revenue growth rate in seven quarters. iPhone and Mac sales are strong, with the Mac claiming its highest market share since 1995.

BAE Systems, the gov. defense giant with local North American HQ, acquired Conn.-based SilverSky for $232M. The move will bulk up BAE’s U.S. operations, and it signifies a large commitment to cyber security issues. SilverSky, which focuses on cloud-based security, has raised $108M in funding from Goldman Sachs and others.

Community

With the launch of Apple Pay yesterday, we put together a list of all the local vendors expected to provide the service. Not all are actively up and running, however. We tried McDonald’s for lunch today to no avail.

What I’m Reading