Swave Photonics, a Leuven-based augmented reality (AR) startup, has announced the successful closure of its €27 million Series A funding round. The investment will support the development of their Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) platform. This funding aims to deliver a reality-first user experience for AI-driven Augmented Reality smart glasses and heads-up displays.
The round was co-led by imec.xpand and SFPIM Relaunch, with additional contributions from new investors EIC Fund, IAG Capital Partners, and Murata Electronics North America, Inc., alongside existing backers Qbic Fund, PMV, imec, and Luminate.
Swave raised a €10 million Seed round in 2023, which propelled the launch of Swave’s HXR technology and the expansion of Swave’s team, which claims to leverage “the top minds in photonics and semiconductors. “
“This round will accelerate Swave’s product introductions as we continue to solve the challenges of today’s Augmented Reality experiences through true holography,” said Mike Noonen, SwaveCEO. “We are thrilled with 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.”
Founded in 2022, Swave is a spin-off from Imec that leverages CMOS chip technology to enable cost-effective, scalable, and rapid commercialization.
The company focuses on developing chipsets that power AI-driven, reality-first spatial computing. Swave claims its HXR display technology is the first to achieve true holography by shaping lightwaves into natural, high-resolution images. This proprietary technology supports compact designs while delivering a seamless and natural viewing experience.
“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,” said Theo Marescaux, Swave co-founder and Chief Product Officer. “We are co-designing every element—from our holographic SLMs with cutting-edge nano-pixels to real-time computechips, light engines, and AR combiners—delivering the most advanced and integrated solution yet.”
Swave’s HXR technology employs the “world’s smallest pixel” to manipulate light and create high-quality 3D holographic images. These images deliver a reality-first user experience, seamlessly integrating digital information with the user’s environment. Using its patented DynamicDepth technology, the system enables the human vision system to process the images naturally.
Swave points out that current AR devices, whether in prototype or on the market, face challenges such as high costs, bulky size and weight, excessive power consumption, and visual issues like Vergence-Accommodation Conflict, leading to nausea or fatigue for users.
In contrast, Swave claims that its HXR technology addresses these problems while eliminating the need for expensive components like waveguides or varifocal lenses, which are typically essential in existing AR devices.
“With Swave’s seed funding, we successfully built our team, proved the capabilities of the technology, and completed prototype designs,” said Dmitri Choutov, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer. “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.”
