VR and AR technology developer Leap Motion has closed a $50 million series C funding round as it expands its business into Asia.

The funding round was led by clients advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Lawrence Unrein, Global Head of J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Private Equity Group, joins the company's Board of Directors as part of the deal.

The funding will be used by Leap Motion to open a new office in Shanghai to help push its business out to Asia. It will also continue developing its finger-tracking technology in VR and AR, and expand out into new enterprises such as education and healthcare.

Fundamental to VR/AR

"Natural input through full hand tracking is inseparable and fundamental to the future of VR/AR, and Leap Motion is a principal driver of its widespread adoption," said Michael Buckwald, CEO and Co-founder of Leap Motion.

"In much the same way as the touchscreen sparked the mobile revolution, Leap Motion is playing a transformative role in the development of human interface technology for VR/AR. As a result, the industry as a whole is on the verge of a similar moment of exponential growth."

We last wrote about Leap Motion back in March 2015, when it partnered with Razer to work on its OSVR mobile headset. The partnership was made to bring Leap Motion's hand-tracking sensors to the OSVR out of the box.