San Francisco, Nov 23 (IANS): Pokemon GO game developer Niantic has raised $300 million from global investment manager Coatue at a valuation of $9 billion.

Niantic said it will use the funds to invest in current games and new apps, expand the Lightship developer platform, and build out its vision for the Real-World Metaverse.

"We're building a future where the real world is overlaid with digital creations, entertainment and information, making it more magical, fun and informative," said John Hanke, Niantic's Founder and CEO.

Earlier this month, Niantic launched the Lightship platform, enabling developers across the world to realise their visions for augmented reality and the Real-World Metaverse.

The Lightship Platform is the foundation for Niantic's own products, built on years of experience developing and running titles such as Ingress Prime and Pokemon GO.

"Niantic is building a platform for AR based on a 3D map of the world that we believe will play a critical role in the next transition in computing," said Matt Mazzeo, a General Partner at Coatue.

Tens of millions of people play Niantic's games each month, including Pokemon GO and Ingress.

"Over the years, our players have walked more than 17.5 billion kms (10.9 billion miles)," said the company.

Last month, Niantic and Nintendo launched Pikmin Bloom, a smartphone app designed to bring a little joy to everyday journeys on foot.