Augmented reality player Blippar raised $54 million, as it looks to “become the leading visual discovery app for the physical world”.

The company said the investment highlights its “massive growth” since launch in 2011, and will enable it to further grow its engineering teams and expand its global reach with the addition of a large range of new categories and content.

Blippar currently has around 300 employees in 14 offices around the world.

“2016 is poised to be the biggest year in Blippar’s history as we not only expand our breadth and depth as a business but also reach new heights with our vision to become a true visual discovery engine for the physical world,” said Ambarish Mitra, co-founder and CEO.

He said the funds will enable it to “create one-of-a-kind campaigns” for Blippar’s brand partners, and to “achieve our vision for an era in which everyone has access to unlimited knowledge of the world around them, regardless of language or education”.

The firm also wants to focus on user acquisition and the education sector “to empower educators with interactive visual learning experiences”.

In an earlier interview with Mobile World Live, Mitra said augmented reality has the potential to have as transformative an impact on our lives as the internet, but only if the industry drops use of this “very technical” phrase and consumers become as accustomed to ‘blipping’ as they are with ‘tweeting’ today.

The Series D round was lead by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment fund of the Malaysian government, and includes follow-on investment from Blippar’s existing investor base.