[6] Magic Leap was founded by Rony Abovitz in 2010[7] and has raised $2.6 billion from a list of investors including Google[8] and Alibaba Group.

[7] According to past versions of its website, the startup evolved from a company named "Magic Leap Studios" which around 2010 was working on a graphic novel and a feature film series, and in 2011 became a corporation, releasing an augmented reality app at Comic-Con that year.

[15] In October 2014, when the company was still operating in stealth mode (but already reported to be working on projects relating to augmented reality and computer vision), it raised more than $540 million of venture funding from Google,[16] Qualcomm, Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins, among other investors.

[17][18] A November 2014 analysis by Gizmodo, based on job listings, trademark registrations and patent applications from Magic Leap, concluded that the company appeared to be building a competitor to the Google Glass and Oculus Rift that would "blend computer-generated graphics with the real world".

[19] Before Magic Leap, a head-mounted display using light field had been demonstrated by Nvidia in 2013, and the MIT Media Lab has also constructed a 3D display using "compressed light fields"; however, Magic Leap asserts that it achieves better resolution with a new proprietary technique that projects an image directly onto the user's retina.

[6] Richard Taylor of special effects company Weta Workshop is involved in Magic Leap alongside Abovitz.

While still not showing any hardware, the footage claims that it was filmed through a Magic Leap device without the use of special effects or compositing.

[citation needed] On December 9, 2015, Forbes reported on documents filed in the state of Delaware, indicating a Series C funding round of $827m.

[23] On February 2, 2016, Financial Times reported that Magic Leap further raised another funding round of close to $800m, valuing the startup at $4.5 billion.

[36] In April 2019, it was reported that Magic Leap had raised an additional $280 million from NTT Docomo as part of a partnership announced by the two companies.

[41] In September 2020, The Information reported that the company valuation was $6.4 billion in 2019 and by June 2020 it dropped to $450 million, by 93 percent in six months.

[47][8] By August 2024, Magic Leap had raised at least $3.5 billion, including $750 million from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.