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

Swave Picturesholographic display company, has raised $28.27 million as it plans to develop AI-powered glasses and head-mounted displays.

Swave said the Series A funding will support the advancement of its Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) platform, enabling users to use AI-powered augmented reality (AR) smart glasses and head-mounted displays. The company will showcase its technology at The cost of CES 2025.

The fund was 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, Swave already raised $10.47 million in seed funding in 2023, which supported the launch of Swave’s HXR technology, as well as the expansion of Swave’s team, which has veterans in semiconductors and electronics.

“This round accelerates Swave’s innovation as we continue to address today’s AR challenges through virtual holography,” said Mike Noonen, CEO of Swave, in a statement. “We are excited about the continued support from our previous partners and investors. They recognize that Swave brings together semiconductor, holographic and AI technologies in a way that can provide cost-effective and practical solutions.

“AR glasses are set to become the next generation of AI-powered spatial computing and other applications, and Swave is uniquely positioned to enable them in the future,” said Theo Marescaux, Swave’s chief product officer, in a statement. “We’re developing a whole range of products – from our SLMs with advanced nano-pixels, to real-time chips, light engines, and AR integrations – that provide the most advanced and integrated solution here.”

“With Swave’s seed funding, we successfully built our team, validated the technology, and completed the graphic design,” said Dmitri Choutov, COO, in a statement. “With Series A funding secured and silicon working on our partner’s fabric, we are well on our way to bringing products and manufacturing equipment to market in the near future.”

Swave’s HXR technology uses what it calls the “world’s smallest pixel” to generate light and sculpt high-quality 3D holographic images that create a user-first experience, while digital information interacts and adapts to the user’s environment. These images allow the human vision system to work more naturally using DynamicDepth technology.

AR devices that are currently being compared or that are on the market all face the problems of high cost, uncomfortable size and weight, high power consumption, and phenomena like Vergence-Accommodation Conflict, which cause nausea or fatigue of users. HXR’s unique Swave technology not only solves this problem, but also eliminates the need for expensive components, such as waveguides or varifocal lenses, that are required in existing AR devices.

Swave technology has been developed for over ten years and the company currently holds 60 patents for the technology. Shaking he announced its HXR platform in April 2024, followed by the realization of the world’s first true color holographic display, and has been announced recently that HXR will be recognized at CES 2025 with the CES Innovation Award.