Google-backed startup Magic Leap could be raising $1 billion in funding - one of the biggest deals ever

Magic Leap, the Google-backed "cinematic reality" startup that's made huge waves in the technology community, is close to raising a $1 billion round of new venture funding, reports the South Florida Business Journal.

According to that report, such a deal would value Magic Leap at $4.5 billion. South Florida Business Journal is Magic Leap's hometown newspaper of record, theoretically placing it close to the source.

The only other tech companies to ever raise $1 billion in a single round were Uber, which managed to raise $1.2 billion twice in 2014, and Facebook, which raised $1.5 billion in 2010. 

Magic Leap's technology is still largely top secret. But we know that it's an augmented reality platform, similar on the surface to Microsoft's HoloLens, which will project three-dimensional images into your field of view.

On October 21st, 2014 - almost exactly a year ago - Google led a $542 million investment in Magic Leap.

Expectations are high. But after a long run of staying silent, Magic Leap showed off its first-ever video demonstration of what it promises is its actual technology, running in real-time, earlier this week.

You can see the full Magic Leap demo below:

Magic Leap declined to comment when Business Insider reached out.