Chinese holographic AR firm WiMi IPOs, sees real profit in virtual future

The coronavirus lockdown turned WiMi’s IPO roadshow into an all-digital affair – although that may have done the augmented reality firm a favour; the Beijing-based AR specialist is now eyeing expansion into southeast Asia.

Think of WiMi Hologram Cloud’s initial public offering as a sign of our unusual and rapidly changing times. When the Beijing-based holographic augmented reality (AR) specialist went public on the Nasdaq on April 1, raising $26 million, it caught the eye for a number of novel reasons.

For one thing, it marked the first US IPO since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 to be a global pandemic on March 11. Coronavirus is ebbing in some countries and yet to peak in others but is certain to tip the world into outright recession this year.

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