Swave Photonics, a fabless semiconductor company based in Leuven, Belgium, has closed a €27M Series A funding round.
The investment was co-led by imec.xpand and SFPIM Relaunch, with participation from new investors EIC Fund, IAG Capital Partners, and Murata Electronics North America, Inc., alongside existing investors Qbic Fund, PMV, imec, and Luminate.
The company previously raised €10M in a 2023 Seed round, which supported the launch of its HXR technology and the growth of its team specialising in photonics and semiconductors.
Capital utilisation
The funding will drive the development of Swave Photonics’ Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) platform, designed to enhance AI-powered augmented reality (AR) smartglasses and heads-up displays.
Mike Noonen, Swave CEO, says, “This round will accelerate Swave’s product introductions as we continue to solve the challenges of today’s AR experiences through true holography.”
“We are thrilled with continued support from our existing investors and our new investors. They recognise that Swave uniquely brings together semiconductor, holographic and AI technologies in a way that will deliver cost-effective and truly useful solutions.”
Dmitri Choutov, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer adds, “With Swave’s seed funding, we successfully built our team, proved the capabilities of the technology, and completed prototype designs. With Series A funding secured and silicon running at our partner fabs, we are on track to introduce product development kits and soon thereafter production devices.”
The HXR technology!
Founded in 2022 as a spin-out from imec, Swave Photonics utilises Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) chip technology for scalable, cost-effective manufacturing and commercialisation.
The company’s Holographic Extended Reality (HXR) technology uses tiny pixels and special DynamicDepth technology to create 3D holographic images that look natural and adapt to the user’s surroundings. This makes it easier for the human eye to process the images.
Unlike many current AR devices, which are expensive, bulky, use a lot of power, and can cause discomfort or nausea, Swave’s technology solves these problems. It also removes the need for costly parts like waveguides or varifocal lenses, making it a more efficient and user-friendly solution.
Theo Marescaux, Swave co-founder and Chief Product Officer, says, “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.”
“We are co-designing every element—from our holographic SLMs with cutting-edge nano-pixels, to real-time compute chips, light engines, and AR combiners—delivering the most advanced and integrated solution yet.”
Swave Photonics holds 60 core technology patents and has achieved milestones such as launching its HXR platform in April 2024 and developing the world’s first true-color holographic display.
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