LEUVEN, Belgium–(COMMERCIAL WIRE)–Swave Photonics, an innovator in Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) technology to bring the metaverse to life, today announced a €7 million seed round. The investment will be used to fund the commercialization of truly realistic and immersive 3D HXR gigapixel technology for a wide range of emerging applications. The demand for extended reality (XR) technology that enhances or replaces our view of the world is exploding with the rapid emergence of the metaverse, a 3D world where participants can interact with people, objects and places and other applications that benefit from 3D experiences. truly realistic. . Swave Photonics is a new spin-off of imec and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Investors participating in the initial seed round include imec.xpand, a value-added venture capital fund focused on nanotechnology innovations, and Flanders Future Techfund (FFTF), a Belgian/Flemish public investment fund, co-leading this seed round. QBIC, a Belgian interuniversity venture capital fund, also participates.

Swave Holographic Extended Reality (HXR) Technology is the Holy Grail of the metaverse, delivering realistic, high-resolution 3D images that can be viewed with the naked eye, without compromise. HXR technology enables 1,000x better pixel resolution with billions of tiny, densely packed pixels to enable truly realistic 20/20 vision without the need for viewers to wear smart AR/VR headsets or prescription glasses. Swave’s HXR technology projects realistic holographic images that eliminate today’s AR/VR/XR challenges of focal depth and eye tracking, so viewers can easily focus on objects near and far. Most importantly, HXR chips are manufactured using standard CMOS technology, allowing for cost-effective scaling.

Leveraging advances in photonics and holography based on diffractive optics, Swave’s HXR gigapixel technology targets metaverse platforms, 360-degree holographic walls, 3D gaming, AR/VR/XR glasses, collaborative video conferencing, and more. head-up displays for automotive and aerospace systems. Swave technology can also power holographic headsets that deliver immersive 3D AR/VR/XR experiences with stunning high resolution, perfect depth of focus, and 180- to 360-degree viewing angles—all without the headaches users experience. of conventional headphones. Applications powered by HXR gigapixel technology will be able to pass the visual Turing test in which virtual reality is virtually indistinguishable from real-world images that humans see with their bare eyes.

“Our vision is to help build the fundamental holographic technology to bring the metaverse to life and function,” said Theodore Marescaux, CEO and founder of Swave Photonics. “Swave’s HXR gigapixel technology will forever change the way we see and experience still images, video and live images. The true, realistic and immersive metaverse experiences powered by Swave technology are poised to replace all AR/VR displays and headsets to the point where virtual, augmented or extended reality is virtually indistinguishable from the real world.”

Swave’s HXR gigapixel technology will play a key role in the future of work by enabling people everywhere to participate in immersive video conferences while working remotely. Swave plans to partner with leading AR/VR/XR platforms and metaverse, so companies can have a shared, realistic 3D experience when gathered around a conference table.

“We are convinced that Swave can bring to market a fundamental technology that we have been developing for more than five years through imec’s significant research and development programs and investments,” said Luc Van den hove, president and chief executive officer of imec. “Imec has a strong track record of innovation and production that can scale across a wide range of applications. We are committed to making Swave a success and are confident that with its extensive patent portfolio and continued support from our teams and ecosystem, Swave can become one of the biggest disruptors for immersive 3D displays and a key accelerator for applications such as the metaverse.”

“As a co-lead investor in this seed round, by investing from our new xpand-II fund, we are helping to build and grow a disruptive deep-tech holographic company,” said Peter Vanbekbergen, partner at imec.xpand. “We are convinced that Swave’s transformative gigapixel holographic technology can drive the $93 billion AR/VR metaverse market and will position Swave to enable an upgrade to today’s challenging immersive AR/VR experiences.”

“Swave is a fantastic addition to the growing high-tech community in Flanders and will reinforce Flanders’ place on the global tech industry map,” said Jo Brouns, Flemish Minister for Economy and Innovation. “We are proud to see that the recently established Flanders Future Technology Fund has been instrumental in preparing this seed round for an up-and-coming company like Swave, in close cooperation with early-stage deep tech investors. The FFTF’s mission is to accelerate innovative technologies developed by our knowledge centers to market, which is exactly what we are doing with this investment in Swave.”

Availability

Swave’s HXR microchip products are mass produced, cost effective and reliable. The large chip versions (2cm x 2cm) are designed for ultra-high-end holographic display applications, and the tiny 0.5cm x 0.5cm versions will be targeted at ultra-lightweight handheld devices. Initial samples of HXR chips are planned to be available in 2023. Future versions of HXR chips will be optimized for additional emerging AR/VR/XR applications.

About Swave

Swave Photonics is a factory-less semiconductor company that designs and markets holographic chips based on proprietary diffractive photonics technology. Their mission is to bring the metaverse to life and enable display manufacturers and content creators to revolutionize the display market with immersive, ultra-high-resolution, realistic holographic displays. Swave envisions a world where holographic displays give everyone the power to visualize the impossible, collaborate and achieve more. swave.io

About Imec

Imec is a world leading research and innovation center in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Imec leverages its state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure and team of more than 5,000 top-tier employees and researchers for R&D in advanced semiconductors and system scaling, silicon photonics, artificial intelligence, sensing technologies, and beyond communications. of 5G, and in application domains such as health and life sciences, mobility, industry 4.0, agri-food, smart cities, sustainable energy and education. Imec unites global industry leaders across the entire semiconductor value chain, Flanders-based and international technology, pharmaceutical, medical and ICT companies, start-ups, and academic and knowledge centers. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, with research sites in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the US, and offices in China, India, Taiwan, and Japan. In 2021, Imec’s revenues (P&L) amounted to 732 million euros.

More information about Imec can be found at www.imec-int.com.

Imec is a registered trademark for the activities of imec International (IMEC International, a legal entity established under Belgian law as “stichting van openbaar nut”), imec Belgium (IMEC vzw supported by the Flemish Government), imec Netherlands (Stichting IMEC Nederland), imec Taiwan (IMEC Taiwan Co.), imec China (IMEC Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.), imec India (IMEC India Private Limited), imec San Francisco (IMEC Inc.), and imec Florida (IMEC USA Central Design Nanoelectronics Inc.).