Swave Photonics raises $28.3 million for 3D smart glasses and displays

Wave photonicsa 3D display company, has raised $28.27 million in funding as it prepares components for AI-powered smart glasses and head-up displays.

Swave said the Series A investment will catalyze the development of the Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) platform, enabling a reality-first user experience for AI-powered augmented reality (AR) smart glasses and head-up displays. The company will showcase its technologies at Consumer Electronics Show 2025.

The funding round was jointly 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 Soave previously It raised a $10.47 million seed round in 2023, launching Swave’s HXR technology, as well as expanding the Swave team, which includes veteran photonics and semiconductor experts.

“This round will accelerate the introduction of Swave products as we continue to solve the challenges of today’s augmented reality experiences with true holography,” Mike Noonen, Swave CEO, said in a statement. “We are thrilled by the continued support from our existing and new investors. They recognize that Swave uniquely combines semiconductor, holographic and AI technologies in a way that will deliver cost-effective and truly beneficial solutions.

“AR glasses are set to become the primary interface for AI-powered spatial computing and other applications, and Swave is uniquely positioned to enable this future,” Theo Maresco, chief product officer at Swave, said in a statement. “We co-design every element – ​​from our holographic SLMs with cutting-edge nanopixels, to our real-time computing chips, light actuators, and augmented reality assemblers – to deliver the most advanced and integrated solution to date.”

“Thanks to Swave’s seed funding, we successfully built our team, demonstrated technology capabilities, and completed prototype designs,” Dmitry Chatov, chief operating officer, said in a statement. “With Series A funding secured and silicon up and running in our partner factories, we are on track to deliver product development kits and shortly thereafter production hardware.”

Swave’s HXR technology uses what it calls “the world’s smallest pixels” to shape light and sculpt high-quality 3D images that create a life-first user experience, where digital information interacts and adapts to the user’s surrounding environment. Images allow the human vision system to process them naturally by taking advantage of patented DynamicDepth technology.

Augmented reality devices currently being developed or on the market face the challenges of high cost, uncomfortable size and weight, high power usage, and visual phenomena such as Vergence-Accomodation Conflict, which causes nausea or fatigue to users. Swave’s unique HXR technology not only solves these issues, but also eliminates the need for more expensive components, such as waveguides or multifocal lenses, that are inherently required for current AR devices.

Swave technology has been in development for more than a decade and the company currently holds 60 patents for the underlying technology. wave Announce Its HXR platform in April 2024, Followed by Achieving the world’s first true color 3D display, and Recently announced HXR will be recognized at CES 2025 with a CES Innovation Award.

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