The Venture Codex

Participated · Series D · Apr 2022

DigiLens is an innovator in head‑worn holographic display and waveguide technology, including volume Bragg gratings and the full‑color Crystal30 waveguide. The company supplies optics for XR use cases across automotive, enterprise, consumer, avionics, and military sectors and enables OEM partners via a patented optical platform and low‑cost contact‑copy manufacturing process. DigiLens says its next‑generation waveguide technology delivers higher performance at lower cost, enabling wider fields of view, improved uniformity, and fewer substrates for full‑color waveguide lenses. Management expects these advances to appear in the market in a material way over the next year and to extend the company’s lead versus competitors. The company is strengthening a licensing business model and expanding global offerings through strategic partners for glass and plastic substrates. Following the Series D second close, DigiLens reported more than $50 million in new investments and a valuation of over $530 million. DigiLens develops waveguide displays that project images through etchings in thin sheets of glass for AR headsets and see-through automotive displays. The company is focused on lowering the cost of waveguides to reach consumer price points through its manufacturing process. CEO Chris Pickett said the startup is building “the only waveguide that can get to a consumer price point.” DigiLens aims to enable svelte, high-definition AR designs that avoid bulky optics. The startup is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., and faces competition from major tech companies and other startups working on waveguide technology. DigiLens manufactures waveguide displays that enable mostly transparent AR headset screens by reflecting light through printed reflective elements on glass. The company’s manufacturing process ‘prints’ those reflective features directly onto glass sheets, which it says helps keep costs lower than competitors. While DigiLens has received press for miniature waveguide displays for first-generation AR headsets, it has found more immediate opportunity in making heads-up displays for cars and motorcycle helmets. Sunnyvale-based DigiLens announced a $25 million Series C investment from Continental, which now holds an 18% equity stake. The company has raised $60 million in funding to date, with investors that include Sony and Foxconn according to Crunchbase. The article positions DigiLens as a component maker continuing to develop enabling technologies amid broader uncertainty around consumer AR use cases. DigiLens is a Sunnyvale, CA–based developer of diffractive optical waveguide technology and nanomaterials for augmented and virtual reality. Its core product is a holographic optical waveguide that can steer and manipulate light using a variety of diffractive structures, some of which are electrically switchable, enabling wavelength and angular selectivity. The company supplies Optical Design/Tools, Parts Supply, Manufacturing Design/Tools and Material Supply and typically customizes prototype designs for customers from a library of Optical IP Cores. Led by founder and CEO Jonathan Waldern, DigiLens serves the aerospace, security and consumer electronics industries. With the $22m Series B financing, the company intends to bring several augmented reality displays and sensors to market for enterprise, consumer and transportation applications. Backers include both strategic and venture investors, reflecting interest from industry partners and financial firms.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2018

WaveOptics designs and manufactures diffractive waveguides, the key optical component used in near-eye transparent displays for AR wearables. The company offers 40° and 28° field-of-view waveguide products and a 40° light engine to accelerate prototyping and product development. Its patented technology transfers projector light into the user’s eye to deliver a large eye-box, binocular viewing and high field of view with crisp, stable imagery. WaveOptics has secured partnerships with global OEMs and ODMs and an exclusive manufacturing agreement with Goertek to enable mass production at consumer price points. The business raised an oversubscribed $39m Series C (an initial $26m tranche in December 2018 plus a $13m final stage) to scale operations in the UK, US and Asia and build high-volume manufacturing capability. WaveOptics aims to be the core optical component across industrial, enterprise and consumer AR markets as devices move from prototyping to commercial launch. WaveOptics is a world-leading designer and manufacturer of diffractive waveguides, the key optical component in wearable augmented reality devices. Its waveguides transfer light from a minute projector into the user’s eye to enable immersive AR experiences across industrial, enterprise, and consumer markets. The company says it is working with a wide range of leading global OEMs and ODMs as they ramp up product development. WaveOptics raised $26 million in the first stage of a Series C to scale operations and support international expansion. The capital will be used to scale up rapidly around the world, particularly in Asia and the US, and to manage and support an increasing number of customers across different sectors. Securing Goertek as a shareholder is described as a strategic development that will significantly expand the company’s reach. The company anticipates closing further funding in the coming months. WaveOptics is a UK company that builds waveguide-based optics for augmented reality, using hologram physics and photonic crystals. Its core product aims to deliver wider field of view and brighter full-colour images while addressing performance, form factor and scalability tradeoffs. The company positions its optics to be used across different AR hardware, targeting both consumer and enterprise markets. Founders Sumanta Talukdar and David Grey say first products are likely to hit the market next year. Financially, WaveOptics has completed a $16M Series B and had previously raised roughly $400,000; the company declined to disclose a valuation. Management says the new funding will complete product development, accelerate technology deployment, and support launches in new markets while focusing on building product and client relationships rather than exiting. WaveOptics develops patented optical display technology that produces full-colour, see-through augmented reality (AR) displays. The company is led by CEO and founder Sumanta Talukdar. It intends to use newly raised funds to strengthen its position in the AR market, with a focus on increasing market penetration in enterprise customers. WaveOptics also plans to accelerate its level of engagement in the consumer market. The company is based in Abingdon-on-Thames, UK. The fundraising reported was a multi-million pound round led to support these growth priorities.

Led · Series B · Sep 2018

Ceribell deploys a cloud‑linked, portable electroencephalogram (EEG) device—the Ceribell Rapid Response EEG System—that can be applied quickly by any healthcare provider to assess brain waves in minutes and identify seizures and other conditions in emergency departments and intensive care units. The system delivers brain monitoring results within minutes and was first cleared by the FDA via 510(k) in 2017; it is commercially available in the United States. Ceribell is focused on making EEG widely available, more efficient, and more cost‑effective to improve diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions for at‑risk patients. The company plans to leverage machine learning and easy EEG accessibility to address additional neurological indications beyond seizures and recently received Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA for a delirium indication. Ceribell closed a $50 million equity financing to support ongoing commercial expansion across EDs and ICUs and to further develop its technology. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Ceribell develops an FDA-cleared, point-of-care EEG system that uses real-time cloud computing and the proprietary Clarity™ machine learning algorithm to deliver rapid bedside seizure diagnosis. Its Ceribell EEG System received FDA 510(k) clearance in 2017 and is commercially available in the United States. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Jane Chao. Ceribell’s platform targets faster diagnosis in patients with suspected seizures, focusing on emergency departments and intensive care units. The company plans to use the new funding to further expand its commercial presence in EDs and ICUs globally. No revenue or user metrics were provided in the article. Ceribell develops a Rapid Response EEG System that uses a disposable headband and a mobile recorder to acquire and transmit EEG data to a HIPAA-compliant cloud portal for remote specialist review. The system is designed for bedside triage and can be set up in minutes by any healthcare provider, using a proprietary "Brain Stethoscope" feature that converts EEG signals to sound. Ceribell's EEG System received FDA 510(k) clearance in 2017 and is commercially available in the United States. The company is led by CEO Jane Chao, Ph.D. Ceribell plans to use the proceeds from its recent financing to expand commercialization of its system.