Beijing, China-based XR tech startup OPTIX announced that it has closed its oversubscribed Pre-A funding round led by Primavera Venture Partners. Existing investors Lanchi Ventures also participated, bringing OPTIX total equity raise to US$15M. The investment is OPTIX's third funding round in less than two years since the company was established in August 2022. OPTIX Angel round was led by Lanchi Ventures with participation from Vlight Capital.
OPTIX develops cutting-edge optics technology and offers advanced solutions for the next-gen AR and VR products. With technology as its core, OPTIX focuses on VR Pancake in-house design and fabrication, and AR waveguide technologies including Geometric Waveguide, SRG Waveguide, and VHG Waveguide.
"Optics plays a crucial role in XR hardware. The technology itself is very challenging because it needs to be highly integrated with other subsystems, at the same time, be manufacturable at mass production scale", Gary Yan, Founder and CEO of OPTIX said on the fundraising announcement, "Our goal is to provide the ultimate optical experience, and to create outstanding AR and VR products in collaboration with world-leading customers and industry partners."
"We are excited to be backed by Primavera Venture Partners, Lanchi Ventures, and Vlight Capital. Their wealth of experience, foresight, and strong support are essential for us to achieve long-term goals," said Yan.
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The new funding comes on a heel of a rapid growth year for OPTIX. The company has established its own laboratory and manufacturing process, and has been simultaneously focusing on key optics technologies for both AR and VR. Within weeks of Apple releasing its first headset Vision Pro in June 2023, OPTIX published their VR Pancake optical module, which has a resolution of 8K binoculars, and a field-of-view that is larger than Vision Pro for more than 15 degrees. The extremely delicate picture and 3D display effects have been unanimously recognized by many customers worldwide. Next step, OPTIX will further integrate gaze tracking, foveated rendering and PB Lens into the iterated pancake module, and AR waveguide module will be launched in Q3 2024.
Primavera Venture Partners said "The VR and AR market holds immense potential in the long term. The continuous strategic development of VR and AR by global technology leaders has not only marked a significant turning point for the industry, but it has also shown us the vast possibilities of VR and AR in transforming our daily lives. The breakthrough of products hinges upon the advancement of core optical module technology. OPTIX, backed by its full-stack team in optical module design and process and its solid understanding of technology, has independently developed its unique technical advantage and specialization. OPTIX's products have gained recognition from many renowned brands for its industry-leading optical performance. We look forward to seeing OPTIX leveraging its capabilities in terminal design and supply chain technology to better support the industry in overcoming bottlenecks in optical solutions and enrich our everyday life through the lens of XR technology."
Lanchi Ventures said "XR devices are expected to become the next generation of mobile computing platforms, with tremendous potential market space. Leveraging years of experience in XR optics and innovative display technology, OPTIX team has accumulated research experience from top-tier tech companies. They possess full-stack capabilities from fundamental optical design and material selection to mass production. We believe that the team can continue to insightfully observe industry development trends and promote bottom-up technological innovation."
About OPTIX
Founded in August 2022, OPTIX develops cutting-edge optics technology and offers advanced solutions for the next-gen AR and VR products. OPTIX dives deep into the underlying physical principles, materials, equipment, and fabrication processes.
