Augmented Reality firm Blippar is on the brink of collapse, following a dispute between two of its biggest investors, the property developer Nick Candy and Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah, according to a report in the Sunday Times.
The newspaper reports that the firm wrote to shareholders on Friday to warn that Khazanah had blocked an emergency fundraising round, giving the board “no current option other than to give notice to start insolvency proceedings”. Blippar has been pushing AR heavily since it was formed in 2010, and has convinced a number of big-name brands to invest in the technology, including Cadbury, Heinz, Walkers Crisps and Domino’s.
The company has raised almost $150m (£118m) from investors including Candy, which owns 49 per cent, hedge fund Lansdowne Partners, which owns 14 per cent, Khazanah (12 per cent) and Qualcomm (12 per cent). 
According to the report, Candy Ventures had offered to inject a sum thought to be around $5m, but this would require approval from Khazanah, which was sought, but not forthcoming. Blippar’s latest accounts, for the 12 months to March last year, showed pre-tax losses of £34.5m on sales of £5.7m.
