Ventech is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments in startup companies. It has a broad investment scope with the capacity to invest in B2B and in B2C, in software and in hardware, with an industry agnostic approach. The firm's primary geographical focuses are, for the European fund, France, DACH region and the Nordics, with offices in Paris, Munich and Helsinki. Ventech China invests in Asia with an office in Shanghai.

Ventech

Founded in 2003, Cipio Partners is a leading investment management and advisory firm for European growth capital & minority buyouts for technology companies (typical sectors e.g. software, technology enabled B2B products & services, components and consumer internet). Cipio Partners targets European growth stage technology businesses with €10-50 million in revenue and makes initial investments ranging from €5-15 million. Cipio Partners operates from offices in Munich and Luxembourg. Further information is available at www.cipiopartners.com

Cipio Partners

CEA Investissement (SA), founded (as CEA Valorisation) in 1999, is a subsidiary of the CEA, a major player in technological research, development and innovation.   The central mission of CEA Valorisation is to create economic value based on technological innovations. To fulfill this mission, they have developed two main activities:   Investment in seed capital in innovative start-ups / start-ups active in the technology areas of CEA.   The Licensing of advising companies and public laboratories of innovation in creative strategy development and marketing rights to patent or know-how belonging to the CEA, other research organizations or innovative companies.   In addition, CEA contributes to the financing of national investment in seed technology (activity ''Fund of Funds''), this activity is developed through particular Emertec management and funds managed by this company (FCPR Emertec 2 Emertec Energy and Environment), the FCPR managed by ACE Security Management SA, an investment company in seed priming Minatec SAS.   Their areas of technological expertise are mainly micro-and nanotechnology, health technologies, the New Technologies for Information and Communication (NTIC), advanced materials and technologies for energy.

CEA Investissement

In March 2017, after 18 years of activity, the venture capital activity of CEA Investissement and its team were transferred into a newly created independent venture capital firm, Supernova Invest. Supernova Invest combines Amundi the European leader in asset management and the CEA Europe’s most innovative research institute, both being shareholders of Supernova Invest.

Supernova Invest

Jolt Capital is a fully independent Private Equity firm targeting growth investments in mid-sized European technology companies, typically with revenues between €10million and €100million. Founded in 2011, the firm is authorized and regulated by AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) and led by Jean Schmitt and a very experienced team. As industry insiders, Jolt Capital has an ingrained understanding of the scaling constraints facing SMEs originating in Europe, from both an operational and financing perspective. As such, Jolt Capital enables and catalyzes the requisite expansion by financing Working Capital, CAPEX, and strengthening Balance Sheets, while facilitating operational and capital efficiency with strategic guidance across Intellectual Property (IP), Internal Processes, Partnerships, Talent, Board Membership, M&A, and more. It is a fast growing technology companies in Europe need to finance their working capital in order to scale effectively in competitive markets. Despite their robustness, limited access to bank financing is a recurring constraint on company growth. Jolt Capital partners with these great companies by filling this gap with mutually beneficial equity investments. Growing technology companies routinely require significant capex across the organization in areas such as manufacturing, servers, facilities, testing, etc. Jolt Capital supports companies in their Capital Expenditures on the path to sustainable growth and profitability. Jolt Capital fosters European mid-size companies’ growth and profitability by financing their working capital, capex, external growth strategies and overall strengthening their balance sheet, in an approach that is mutually favorable to Jolt’s investors, Jolt’s portfolio companies, and Europe as a whole.

Jolt Capital

Bpifrance provides financial solutions for companies that are booting up the listing on the stock exchange and credit equity. It includes OSEO, CDC Entreprises, FSI, and FSI Regions to offer in your area of financial solutions at every stage of the life of your business. Bpifrance was founded in 2012 and is based in Maisons-alfort, Ile-de-France, France.

Bpifrance

Microoled

Microoled is a provider of microdisplays for mobile near-to-eye viewing devices used by consumers, medical professionals, and the security industry. Founded in 2007, Microoled headquarters, R&D, and a production facility are located in Grenoble, a renowned center of excellence in France for chipset and nanotechnology development.

Microoled, a France-based company, specializes in the design and production of OLED microdisplays for near-eye applications, for consumer and enterprise use. The company's products are used in a variety of devices, including outdoor optical equipment, night vision glasses, medical devices, and AR glasses. Microoled's proprietary AMOLED technology bolsters near-eye displays with optimal resolution, brightness, and power efficiency. Since 2007, Microoled has developed a range of technologies, protected by 170+ granted patents, in collaboration with CEA/Leti research centers.

Technologies bringing about a new reality

Extended Reality

<div>Microoled is a provider of microdisplays for mobile near-to-eye viewing devices used by consumers, medical professionals, and the security industry. Microoled provides R&amp;D, and a production facility are located in Grenoble, a renowned center of excellence in France for chipset and nanotechnology development.</div>

Next-gen Displays

MICROOLED’s ActiveLook Joins Cadence App For Athlete Enhancement

Microoled, a France-based company, specializes in the design and production of OLED microdisplays for near-eye applications, for consumer and enterprise use. The company's products are used in a variety of devices, including outdoor optical equipment, night vision glasses, medical devices, and AR glasses. Microoled's proprietary AMOLED technology bolsters near-eye displays with optimal resolution, brightness, and power efficiency. Since 2007, Microoled has developed a range of technologies, protected by 170+ granted patents, in collaboration with CEA/Leti research centers.For enterprise use, Microoled manufactures the ActiveLook Enterprise glasses, priced at EUR 329 (~USD 369). The ActiveLook module weighs 6 grams, has a 12-hour battery life, and projects images at long distances through semi-reflexive glass lenses. The technology can integrate and display data from any application or smart device, transmitted over BLE. The ActiveLook Enterprise product is priced at EUR 329. For consumer use, the company has incorporated its displays into smartglasses produced by third-party companies. These include the Engo-2, Julbo EVAD-1, Engo-1, and Cosmo Vision.The company's ActiveLook division also offers displays for smart glasses adopted by the sports, medicine, and defense fields. The technology is built on an open API, allowing all ActiveLook apps and services to connect to any ActiveLook-powered glasses. Additionally, Microoled offers an ActiveLook mobile app for performance tracking and allows connections to Apple Watch and Garmin devices.Key customers and partnershipsIn November 2023, the company partnered with heARsight to utilize its ActiveLook AR glasses to display real-time subtitles on the glasses, tailored for individuals with hearing disabilities.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20060">July 2023 </a>, MicroOLED raised EUR 21 million (~USD 23.4 million) in a funding round led by Jolt Capital. The company had plans to use the funding to finance the development of its next range of full-color, high-luminance OLED solutions. Additionally, the funds were to be used to expand manufacturing capabilities in Grenoble and to grow international sales teams in the security segment and the B2B ActiveLook platform model.

Interplay Learning (Interplay) provides on-demand, interactive, and hands-on simulation learning courses for skilled trades, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, solar, and facilities maintenance, through VR, mobile, and desktop applications. The learning courses also include simulated walkthrough videos where experts lead users through procedure guides methodically, with knowledge testing features and additional learning material such as wiring diagrams, equations, sample system configs, and charts at the end of each lesson. The platform also enables managers to track user progress.The company operates a subscription-based model with monthly packages for individuals (USD 54) and teams (USD 229), alongside a custom plan for larger organizations.Key customers and partnershipsNotable customers include Tesla and Rheem Manufacturing. Interplay’s customer usage rose by 445% YoY in 2020. As of February 2021, the platform had over 2,000 customers and 110,000 users across the US.Funding and financialsIn its last funding round (February 2021), Interplay raised USD 18 million in Series B funding co-led by S3 Ventures and Owl Ventures, the world’s largest venture capital firm focused on education technology. As part of the deal, Managing Director of Owl Ventures, Ian Chiu, joined Interplay’s board. The funds were raised to expand its offering to new markets and to accelerate its vision to combine immersive learning experiences with a human connection.

Interplay Learning

Switzerland-based WayRay develops holographic AR technology and hardware for the automobile sector. Its technology is used in head-up displays (HUDs) that project images into a driver’s field of vision to assist with navigation. Although its initial focus was on developing HUDs that can be purchased and installed in any vehicle, it has since pivoted to producing embedded HUD systems (i.e., hardware built into vehicles). WayRay’s HUDs are considered to provide a wider field of vision and combine data (location and mapping information) with vision data to generate images by projecting a laser beam through a Picture Generating Unit (PGU) onto a Holographic Optical Element (HOE).&nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18537">May 2023</a>, WayRay announced integration of its AR displays into Tesla Model 3's in Switzerland, with plans to follow shortly afterwards in the US. Previously, in September 2021 the company launched its deep reality system that replaces the traditional car dashboard. In addition, WayRay launched “The Holograktor” dubbed the first “metaverse on wheels”, which can be driven conventionally or using a remote control via a 5G and satellite connection (November 2021).&nbsp;The company’s founder and CEO, Vitaly Ponomarev, identified that its systems are more advanced, backed by more patents, and potentially 20x smaller than comparable devices in the market. WayRay’s HQ in Switzerland also acts as a product design and development hub, while its R&amp;D center and prototyping factory are based in Russia.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company is backed by strategic investors such as luxury automaker Porsche, which highlighted the management’s expertise in space engineering, hardware, and software development as key reasons for its investment, Hyundai Motor Co., and Alibaba. It is also notable that these investors, particularly Hyundai, are looking at ways to potentially use WayRay’s technology to offer more services in the future. For instance, Hyundai believed that the technology could be used for smart cities and smart buildings, which are its new areas of interest.WayRay partnered with Karma Automotive, a producer of luxury electric vehicles, in December 2021 to support the implementation of its HUDs into their test fleet. Moreover, it partnered with a leader in designing and manufacturing specialty glass, AGP eGlass, in September 2021 to further proliferate its technology.&nbsp; Funding and financialsIt was reported in April 2021 that the company is considering a public listing at a USD 2 billion valuation via a SPAC, although no further updates on this have been announced as at January 2024.&nbsp;

WayRay

AmazeVR initially focused on developing VR technologies but pivoted to VR concerts in late 2019. The concerts are backed by proprietary 9K cameras and software that automate complex VR concert visual effects that run on more than 100 headsets simultaneously. Users join and hang out with other users as avatars while experiencing VR concerts. It intends to bring VR concerts by major artists to theaters and eventually, homes.AmazeVR rolled out its first commercial VR concert, which will feature 3x Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion, in 2022. The artist is expected to tour select AMC Theaters across the US. It is also in the final stages of closing deals with its second and third artists. AmazeVR also revealed plans to release weekly content by 2024 in theaters and for at-home viewers.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20145">July 2023</a>, AmazeVR launched its official AmazeVR Concerts app, featuring an exclusive VR concert from Swedish pop star, Zara Larsson. The app is available on major VR app stores, and the exclusive Zara Larsson VR concert can be accessed for a year at a launch price of USD 6.99. AmazeVR also produces and monetizes VR content on a subscription basis.As of August 2023, the company was in the process of producing and releasing mixed reality concerts by overlaying virtual elements onto live, real-world video.Funding and financialsThe company’s most recent funding was in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13338">September 2022</a>, when it raised USD 17 million in a Series B funding round led by Mirae Asset Capital. The fresh funds were allocated to expand partnerships with artists, artist management companies, labels, publishers, and agencies.

AmazeVR

Dispelix, based in Finland, designs and manufactures single-layer, full-color waveguide displays, a thin (about 1mm) transparent element that takes in a projected image and relays it to the eye, using a nanophotonics-based approach catering to AR applications (e.g., smart glasses). It uses laser beam scanning technology to render laser-sharp images with a gamut of color palettes, which are displayed using beam-combiner technology. Its patented and proprietary approach includes diffractive surface relief gratings, which are elements used for high-power laser applications, fabricated on high refractive index glass wafers that enhance field-of-view and image quality.The company had a total of more than 40 granted or pending patent families as of November 2021. Its product line, Dispelix DPX, includes Dispelix DPX - Ohut, Dispelix DPX - Selva, and Dispelix DPX - Sade with a varying degree of field of view, form factor, and weight. According to Co-Founder and CTO Juuso Olkkonen, its displays are the lightest and thinnest in the market.Key customers and partnerships1) Foxconn and Pegatron: to create reference designs for AR glasses based on its Selvä waveguide display (October 2023)&nbsp;2) VividQ: created a “waveguide combiner” which accurately displays variable-depth 3D content in a user’s environment (January 2023)3) ColorChip and Maradin: To further Light Beam Scanning (LBS) solutions for AR glasses (October 2022)4) Jade Bird Displays: To develop multiple reference designs for AR devices (June 2022)5) AAC Technologies: To improve waveguide displays for the AR and MR industry (March 2022)6) OQmented: for the development and commercialization of MEMS-based LBS technology (November 2021)7) Coretronic: To develop a range of AR optical module solutions (December 2020)8) Hoya Corporation: To improve quality of waveguide displays (November 2020)Funding and financialsIn its most recent funding round (November 2021), Dispelix raised USD 33 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Atlantic Bridge, CCB Trust, and Flashpoint with participation from Lifeline Ventures, VTT Ventures, and 3M Ventures. The funds were allocated to product development. It revealed that several OEM customers were slated to integrate its technology into their consumer offerings by 2023.

Dispelix

DigiLens is a developer of holographic waveguides, which is a clear, thin piece of glass or plastic, used for AR devices. In January 2023, the company launched ARGO, an XR smartglass designed for enterprise and industrial use, the first AR device to utilize Qualcomm’s SnapDragon XR2 platform. Other specifications included 6-degrees of freedom (6-DoF) tracking, a 30-degree field-of-view, spatial audio, a 48MP RGB camera, voice and gaze recognition, access to real-time data visualizations, and a 2,500-nits HD display.&nbsp;The company’s first product, the DigiLens Crystal was introduced in 2019, was a thin-film laser-etched photopolymer embedded with microscopic holograms of mirror-like optics. By projecting a micro display to one end of the lens and another set of optics working to guide the light wave toward the eye, this proved to be an ideal piece of hardware for AR devices, which are preferred with as little hardware as possible.&nbsp;It claims that its patented optical platform and photopolymer technology coupled with a holographic copy manufacturing process enable it to produce cheaper and more scalable solutions. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17598">April 2023</a>, the company announced the launch of SRG+, a surface relief gratings product that improves upon its waveguide technology.The company generates revenue by licensing its technology across a range of industries including the automobile, enterprise, consumer, avionics, and military sectors. DigiLens also offers a white-label solution for automotive companies whereby it creates holographic waveguides for windshields that could offer in-cabin experiences for drivers.&nbsp;&nbsp; Key customers and partnershipsKey partnerships include that with1) Phantom Technologies: - Phantom Technology: To integrate Phantom's CASSI Spatial AI assistant into the DigiLens ARGO glasses, providing features such as spatial search, a contextual assistant, and task management using voice commands (October 2023)2) Wisear: To integrate its neural interface-powered earphones with the ARGO smart glasses (May 2023)3) Mojo Vision: To utilize Mojo Vision's micro-LED technology to build improved AR glasses (May 2023)4) Taqtile: To integrate the company's ARGO smart glasses with Taqtile's AR work platform, Manifest (May 2023)5) OMNIVISION: To develop new XR product offerings (January 2023)Other partnerships include that with OMNIVISION (January 2023), a leading global developer of semiconductor solutions to develop new XR product offerings. OMNIVISION’s liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) panels allowed DigiLens to build LCOS/LED projectors optimized for its holographic waveguides. OMNIVISION's core camera technology provides DigiLens' devices with features such as visual odometry and six degrees of freedom.&nbsp;DigiLens also works with Taiwanese licensed waveguide manufacturer Young Optics, Chinese original design manufacturer and electronics supplier Malata, Korean display manufacturer Sekonix, international technology company Continental, Chinese optical elements manufacturer Crystal Optech, and Mitsubishi Chemical.&nbsp;Funding and financialsIn April 2022, DigiLens announced the second close of its Series D funding round (intiial close in November 2021) in which it raised USD 50 million at a valuation of USD 530 million. The funds were allocated for the development of DesignV1, its second-generation product.

DigiLens

Companies developing XR headsets and relevant sub-components (displays, sensors, and processors). Also includes complementary XR hardware (tracking devices, haptic vests, and gloves)

Companies offering engines that enable the development of AR/VR content, also includes companies offering capabilities to capture and create 3D images for immersive environments

Companies offering AR/VR solutions or toolkits for specific industry applications, including VR game developers

Companies offering location-based AR/VR experiences

AR/VR platforms offer remote assistance to field experts and headset manufacturers facilitate virtual work

Some solutions in the "content" segment are offered under a B2B SaaS model

Headsets and content segments provide the building blocks for the metaverse

AR, VR, and MR are the primary enabling technologies for the XR industry

<div>
 
 Microoled is a provider of microdisplays for mobile near-to-eye viewing devices used by consumers, medical professionals, and the security industry. Microoled provides R&amp;D, and a production facility are located in Grenoble, a renowned center of excellence in France for chipset and nanotechnology development.
 
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 Develops high-resolution VR and AR headsets for professional use inlcuding for automotive design, training simulations and medical and healthcare. The firm also produces consumer versions of its headets for gaming and provides a list of partners to create content for its solution.
 
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Varjo

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 Creates high-resolution, wide field of view VR headsets. The firms product is currently in pre order.&nbsp;
 
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Pimax

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 Develops waveguide displays for AR glasses and headsets. The firm manufacturers lenses as well as smart glasses that are compatible with LED and LASER projector technologies.
 
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 Creates energy-efficient place-and-play digital signage solutions based on e-paper technology. The firm also provides a workplace management system for meeting room booking displats for hybrid workplaces. The solutions are used by leading companies including Dell, Microsoft, Siemens, Amazon, and NASA.&nbsp;
 
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Visionect

<div>
 
 Papercast is a UK-based developer of battery and solar powered e-paper displays specialized for digital signage for transportation including displays at bus stops, rail stations, airports, and highways. The firms displays are designed for both indoor or outdoor use as well as fixed or portable displays. The firm also provides a content management system for displaying both real time or static information.&nbsp;
 
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Papercast

Companies that develop displays with versatile form factors that are bendable/foldable

Companies that develop displays that can project 3D images in mid-air, without requiring any special glasses or viewing devices

Companies that develop displays that are designed to mimic the appearance of ink on paper

Companies that develop displays that can be integrated into AR/VR headsets or smart glasses. This also includes transparent displays that can display information while maintaining transparency

Companies that develop displays that are alternatives to more traditional LED/LCD technology. They cover a range of light-emitting technologies including OLED, QLED, and MicroLED

Companies that develop displays that can provide tactile or haptic feedback to users, simulating the sensation of touch

Companies that develop displays that are ideal for ultra-short throw (UST) projectors that require limited space and wide viewing angles

To use advanced printing technologies to manufacture display substrates and bring cost efficiencies to the process

To bring cost efficiencies to the manufacturing process

Immersive displays such as AR/VR headsets or smart glasses are used for creating immersive experiences

Enables the creation of flexible and foldable displays by allowing the placement of smart displays on a variety of new types of devices

Biodegradable as well as self-powered and energy-harvesting displays are emerging areas of display technology

Uses sophisticated printing technologies for producing advanced display substrates and for infusing new display technologies in a cost-efficient manner

Microoled

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