(Yicai Global) Sept. 23 -- Chinese augmented reality glasses firm Nreal has closed its C Series round of financing, raising more than USD100 million from investors, including electric vehicle maker Nio's investment arm.

The latest funding round was jointly led by Nio Capital, Yunfeng Capital, and Hongtai Aplus, the Beijing-based firm said in a statement on its WeChat account today. Many existing shareholders, including Sequoia Capital China, also participated in the fundraising.

The investors are famous. Private equity firm Yunfeng Capital was established by Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma. Hongtai Aplus was formed by Yu Minhong, founder of private education provider New Oriental Education & Technology Group.

With the latest fundraiser, the startup has garnered more than USD150 million in funding over the past 12 months, it added.

The latest addition of USD100 million will be used to drive research and development of new products and technologies, said founder and Chief Executive Xu Chi. Some of the funds will go into boosting the firm's output of core optical modules while striving to attract new individual and corporate clients.

Moreover, the company will collaborate with more strategic partners to bring new AR experiences to consumers, Xu added.

Founded in 2017, Nreal is operated by Shenzhen-based Tairuo Technology. Some of the company's products include AR glasses Nreal Light and Nebula that allow digital images to be imposed over views of real objects.

Nreal has more than 8,000 mobile application development partners around the world, covering the sectors of industry, healthcare, education, culture, and tourism, according to the firm.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi