WaveOptics

Founded in 2014, WaveOptics from the UK specializes in the production of waveguides and projectors for glasses with augmented reality.

History

2021: Snap bought WaveOptics for $500 million

At the end of May 2021, the company Snap announced the purchase of a supplier augmented reality of WaveOptics displays, the technology of which is used in AR glasses. Spectacles The deal is valued at $500 million and is the largest in the history of Snap, which emphasizes the company's long-term bet that points augmented reality with will eventually become mainstream.

According to PitchBook, the capitalization of WaveOptics was about $105 million, it attracted $65 million in investments. The staff by May 2021 is 125 people who, after the completion of the transaction, will report to the head of the Snap hardware division, Stin Strand. The company noted that after the purchase, WaveOptics will be able to continue supplying its products to other companies and cooperate with Snap in terms of creating individual optical systems.

Snap acquired WaveOptics

WaveOptics technology is characterized by significantly reducing the load on equipment that processes and displays images through glasses. The account also WaveOptics 12 registered and under development patents.

Before buying the startup, Snap had already collaborated with WaveOptics to create previous versions of Spectacles. The new version of Spectacles was introduced by Snap on May 20, 2021 at the Snap Partner Summit conference. Spectacles have a field of view of 26.3 °, which is less than AR headsets like Hololens from, Microsoft they display AR effects on the street and indoors. The product is equipped with a battery that provides only 30 minutes of battery life, the weight of the glasses is 134 grams, which is significantly more than regular glasses.

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel suggests that it will be about ten years before AR glasses become an attractive enough product for ordinary buyers.^[1]

Notes