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Swave Photonics announced a €27 million Series A—about $28.27 million—in January 2025 to advance its Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) display platform for augmented-reality glasses and heads-up displays. The funding was for display technology intended for device makers, not a launch of Swave-branded consumer smartglasses. Swave later disclosed another €6 million in follow-on funding, bringing its publicly announced Series A financing to €33 million.
What Swave Photonics raised—and who invested
Swave announced the €27 million round on January 3, 2025. Its announcement gives the equivalent as approximately $28.27 million, commonly rounded to $28.3 million. The round was co-led by imec.xpand and SFPIM Relaunch. New participants were the EIC Fund, IAG Capital Partners and Murata Electronics North America; existing investors Qbic Fund, PMV, imec and Luminate also participated. Swave said it had previously raised €10 million in seed funding in 2023. Swave’s Series A announcement describes the funding and its planned use.
The company said the capital would accelerate HXR development and help move toward products for AR smartglasses and heads-up displays. That is a development and productization plan, not evidence that a finished product is already available.
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What Swave makes
Founded in 2022 as a spinout from Belgian semiconductor and nanotechnology research organization imec, Swave is developing display components and systems for other companies to integrate. Its stated applications include AR glasses, automotive and aerospace heads-up displays, glasses-free 3D displays and spatial-computing systems. It lists operations in Leuven, Belgium, and Redmond, Washington. The company’s website and HXR announcement describe that scope.
What “holographic” means here
Swave uses “holographic” to describe a display architecture that modulates light to reconstruct image information with depth cues. It is not a claim that the glasses project a free-floating image visible from every direction. HXR is described as a CMOS-based spatial light modulator (SLM), paired with computational holography and phase-change material. Swave says its DynamicDepth approach is intended to render imagery at appropriate or changing focal depths. Those are the company’s technical descriptions; the cited material does not independently establish performance in a commercial device.
This approach differs from a reflection illusion such as Pepper’s Ghost, from conventional flat microdisplays viewed through optics, and from stereoscopic displays that send different images to the two eyes. Many waveguide AR systems form a virtual image at a limited focal distance. A depth-capable holographic approach could, in principle, provide more natural focus cues, but it still has to meet demanding brightness, power, optical and computing requirements.
Rank #2
- Real-Time AR Data Display for Smarter Swimming: Experience true augmented reality in the water. HOLOSWIM 2S features exclusive holographic light waveguide technology with a 25° field of view and 128×64 high-resolution display, delivering 2× clearer visuals than similar goggles.Track distance, pace, laps, and time right on the lens — all in real time — Stay focused, adjust performance in real time, and swim smarter than ever
- Intelligent AI Analysis & 12 Real-Time Swim Metrics: Track your swim like a pro. Equipped with a 6-axis high-precision motion sensor and AI algorithms, HOLOSWIM 2S automatically detects and records 12 key swimming metrics, including stroke type, stroke rate, SWOLF, turns, rest, speed, and total distance with up to 99.8% accuracy.All data syncs automatically to App, where your AI Coach provides post-swim analysis, trend tracking, and personalized insights to help you continuously improve
- Personalized Goals & Training Plans: Train smarter, not harder! Set custom goals and build a personalized training plan directly in the HOLOSWIM App. Whether you’re chasing a new lap record or improving endurance, your real-time AR guidance helps you stay on track every swim
- TÜV-Certified Anti-Fog Lens & Premium Comfort: Its TÜV Rheinland–certified anti-fog coating stays clear even after 1,000+ scratches, and easily reactivates with a quick rinse—no sprays needed. 2S adopt a streamlined ergonomic design, soft medical-grade silicone sealing, and four interchangeable nose bridges for a perfect, pressure-free fit on any face shape.Built for long swims and all-day wear
- Open Water Mode & Device Compatibility: Go beyond the pool. With IP68 waterproof protection, HOLOSWIM 2S supports both pool and open-water swimming. Pair with compatible devices like Garmin to view live metrics even in lakes or oceans, perfect for triathletes and explorers who crave freedom
Why AR glasses are difficult to build
AR optics have to balance field of view (how much of the scene the virtual image occupies) against the eyebox (the region in which the wearer can still see the image). A wider field of view, a generous eyebox, outdoor-visible brightness and a lightweight frame are difficult to deliver together. Power draw, heat, optical efficiency, prescription-lens integration, manufacturing complexity and real-time image processing add further constraints.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchFixed-focus virtual images can also contribute to the vergence-accommodation conflict: the eyes may converge on an apparent object at one distance while focusing at another. Swave’s proposed depth-aware rendering is aimed at this problem, among others. It does not by itself demonstrate that HXR prevents eye strain or nausea, or that it resolves the full set of design trade-offs.
What Swave claims—and what its figures actually show
Swave reports a pixel pitch below 300 nanometers, a CMOS-based implementation using phase-change material, and holographic capacity of up to 64 gigapixels. It presents these characteristics as a way to steer light for holographic imagery and potentially simplify some optical designs. The company also says HXR could reduce reliance on conventional waveguides, varifocal lenses and bulky optical assemblies. These remain company claims and design goals, not specifications verified in a retail glasses product.
Swave’s AR display requirements white paper gives an illustrative system example. Its figures should be read as a proposed design, not as confirmed performance from shipping smartglasses:
Rank #4
- Get Faster and Faster: This swim goggles have an OELD holographic display and AR diffractive optical waveguide which show real-time user data in your line of vision, easy to cathch swimming time, pace, distance and laps
- AI-Powered Coaching & Incoming Call Reminder: Our AR swim goggles analyze your data with a easy-to-use APP, which perform in-depth data analysis to help you monitor progress, measure metrics and set up goals
- Enjoy Excellent Clarity Vision: OutdoorMaster AR swimming goggles use industry-leading anti-fog and anti-scratch technology, Ipx8-rated waterproofing, also has a blue light block layer. 3D silicone eye seals provides perfect fit and no-leaking swim experience
- Powerful APP Function: Post swim, fire up the accompanying iOS/Android app and you'll be able to review and dissect your performance in detail on your smartphone. The analysis includes things such as SWOLF and pace per 100m
- What You Get: One AR Swim Goggles, 4 custom size nose bridge, a carrying case, and quick magnetic charging cable. Battery lasts up to 4 hours of swim time on a single charge
| White-paper example | Illustrative value |
|---|---|
| SLM pixel size | 280 nm |
| SLM pixel count | 16,000 × 16,000 |
| Active area | Approximately 5 × 5 mm |
| Eyebox | Approximately 10 × 10 mm |
| Diagonal field of view | 45 degrees |
| Addressable image | 2,400 × 1,400 |
| Maximum acuity | Approximately 60 pixels per degree |
| Image depth | Infinity to 0.5 m |
A tiny pixel is only one part of the system. A working product also needs adequate brightness and efficiency, acceptable power and thermal performance, stable color and contrast, low latency, useful eye position tolerance, and reliable manufacturing. The cited material does not provide verified figures for brightness, power, refresh rate, outdoor performance, manufacturing yield, commercial cost or real-time computation requirements. Nor does it establish that the example’s field of view and depth range have been achieved together in a complete wearable device.
Development kits are not a consumer launch
In April 2024, Swave said it was taking orders for HXR development kits from device manufacturers and expected delivery in the second half of 2024. That indicates a business-to-business evaluation path, not retail availability. The available cited sources do not establish a public kit price or independently verify shipping status. They also do not identify a commercial smartglasses product using HXR.
Best Value
- Full 360‑Degree Rotating Showcase: This eyeglass display turning stand delivers complete circular rotation. Every eyewear frame gets full visual exposure, customers can reach and inspect different eyewear styles conveniently from all directions.
- 44‑Pair Large Holding Capacity: This glasses holder organizer features 44 independent slots for individual eyewear placement. Suited for optical shops, apparel stores and exhibition venues to arrange sunglasses and various eyewear in tidy display layout.
- Multi‑Angle Adjustable Mirrors: Mirrors support vertical adjustment, and horizontal angle can be tuned by loosening screws. Shoppers can observe frame wearing effects with this 360° Rotating Sunglasses Display Stand during product selection.
- Solid Round Base Support: The wide 9.1‑inch round base brings stable support for this eyeglass display turning stand. Specially designed slots firmly hold eyewear frames and prevent slipping during rotation.
- Robust Construction: This 360° Rotating Sunglasses Display Stand is built from durable aluminium‑plastic panel, keeping steady performance under long‑time commercial use. Smooth outer surface of this glasses holder organizer supports quick routine wiping for retail showroom environments.
Swave received a CES 2025 Innovation Award honoree designation, according to its award announcement. That is recognition in an awards program, not independent performance validation, proof of mass production or evidence of consumer availability.
What the funding could enable
The financing gives Swave resources to mature its display platform, develop products and work with manufacturers and system integrators. A likely path for a component platform is chip and development-kit development, partner evaluation, optical integration, manufacturing qualification and—if those steps succeed—eventual device announcements. The company’s funding release outlines its intended direction, but does not set a consumer launch date or confirm that any specific device maker has adopted the technology.
The central commercial test is whether HXR can deliver its proposed optical benefits while meeting practical requirements for brightness, efficiency, heat, compute, reliability, cost and manufacturability. Reducing the role of waveguides or varifocal optics in a design could simplify some parts of a system; it does not mean every complete device can dispense with all optical components or engineering challenges.
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What happened after the €27 million round
On June 25, 2025, Swave announced an additional €6 million (about $6.97 million) from IAG Capital Partners and Samsung Ventures. The follow-on was described as supporting commercialization and spatial-computing applications. Combined with the January round, the disclosed Series A financing totals €33 million. The later investment strengthens the company’s funding position, but does not change the distinction between a developing B2B platform and a product consumers can buy. Read Swave’s follow-on announcement.
What to watch next
- Demonstrated system performance: measured brightness, efficiency, color, contrast, refresh rate, field of view and usable eyebox in an integrated device.
- Power and heat: whether the display and hologram processing can work within wearable limits.
- Manufacturing: yield, reliability and cost at the claimed pixel scale.
- Partner evidence: named device makers or system integrators, and products or evaluation systems they confirm.
- Availability: verified development-kit access and, eventually, an announced commercial device.
Until those details emerge, HXR is best understood as a promising, company-described display architecture backed by substantial development funding—not as a proven replacement for existing AR display systems.
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