Swave Photonics raises $28.3 million for 3D holographic smart glasses and displays
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Wave photonicsa holographic display company, has raised $28.27 million in funding as it prepares components for AI-powered smart glasses and heads-up displays.
Swave said the Series A investment will catalyze the advancement of its Holographic Augmented Reality (HXR) platform, enabling a reality-first user experience for AI-powered augmented reality (AR) smart glasses and heads-up displays . The company will demonstrate its technologies at CES 2025.
The funding round was co-led by investors Imec.xpand and SFPIM Relaunch, with participation from new investors EIC Fund, IAG Capital Partners and Murata Electronics North America, as well as existing investors Qbic Fund, PMV, Imec and Luminate.
Leuven, Belgium-based Swave earlier raised a seed round of $10.47 million in 2023, fueling the launch of Swave’s HXR technology as well as the expansion of Swave’s team, which has photonics and semiconductor veterans.
“This round will accelerate Swave’s product introduction as we continue to solve the challenges of today’s AR experiences through true holography,” Mike Noonen, Swave’s CEO, said in a statement. “We are thrilled with the continued support from our existing investors and our new investors. They recognize that Swave uniquely brings together semiconductor, holographic and AI technologies in a way that will deliver cost-effective and truly useful solutions.”
“AR glasses are set to become the primary interface for AI-based spatial computing and other applications, and Swave is uniquely positioned to enable that future,” Theo Maresco, Swave and chief product officer, said in a statement. “We co-engineer every element – from our cutting-edge nano-pixel holographic SLMs, to real-time computing chips, light engines and AR combiners – delivering the most advanced and integrated solution yet.”
“With Swave’s seed funding, we have successfully built our team, proven the capabilities of the technology and completed the design of a prototype,” said Dmitry Chutov, COO, in a statement. “With Series A funding secured and working silicon in our partner factories, we are on track to introduce product development kits and production devices soon after.”
Swave’s HXR technology uses what it calls the “world’s smallest pixel” to shape light and sculpt high-quality 3D holographic images that create a reality-first user experience where digital information interacts and adapts to its surroundings environment. The images allow the human vision system to process them naturally using patented DynamicDepth technology.
All AR devices currently being prototyped or on the market face challenges such as high cost, inconvenient size and weight, significant power consumption, and visual phenomena such as Vergence-Accommodation Conflict that cause nausea or fatigue to users. Swave’s unique HXR technology not only solves these problems, but also eliminates the need for the most expensive components, such as waveguides or varifocal lenses, that are inherent in existing AR devices.
Swave’s technology has been in development for more than a decade, and the company currently holds 60 core technology patents. Waving announced its HXR platform in April 2024, followed by achieving the world’s first true color holographic display and recently announced that HXR will be recognized at CES 2025 with a CES Innovation Award.
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