Grenoble, France-based MICROOLED, a manufacturer of high resolution, low power consumption OLED microdisplays, announced on Wednesday that it has raised €21M in funding led by Jolt Capital.
Additionally, French sovereign wealth fund Bpifrance, via its Innovation Defense vehicle, alongside both historical investors, Cipio Partners, and Ventech, participated in this round. To date, the company has secured €25M in funding.
The French company says it will use the capital to finance the development of the next range of full-colour, high-luminance OLED solutions, expand its manufacturing capabilities in Grenoble and grow international sales teams in the security segment and the B2B ActiveLook platform model.
“Innovation is at the heart of our strategy, and this new funding will allow us to double down on our efforts to bring it to market the most disruptive technologies in AR,” says Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO of MICROOLED.
Aiming for the sky
Smartphones and tablet PCs have paved the way for Augmented Reality (AR), but the future lies in smart glasses, which are set to become the dominant wearable devices for AR experiences, claims the French company.
These glasses will rely on embedded microdisplays that offer high luminance, contrast, and low power consumption. Among the different technologies competing in this space, organic LED (OLED) stands out for its superior performance to traditional LED displays. OLED displays are increasingly being utilised in see-through Near-Eye Displays (NED) found in viewfinder eyepieces for cameras.
A 2022 report from KBV Research reveals that the market for microdisplays designed for AR/VR applications is expected to witness significant growth. This is projected to reach $4B by 2027.
As a result, MICROOLED aims to position itself as a market leader in ultra-lightweight wearable heads-up displays.
MICROOLED: Provides OLED microdisplays
Founded in 2007, MICROOLED specialises in the design, production, and marketing of OLED microdisplays for near-eye applications such as outdoor optical equipment, night vision glasses, ocular equipment for medical devices, augmented reality glasses, etc.
The French company caters to both consumer and recreational markets with its ActiveLook head-up display module, which provides real-time visual information for hands-free activities.
Additionally, the company serves industry and security segments.
Since 2007, this Grenoble-based company has leveraged its expertise and collaborated closely with the nearby CEA/Leti research centers to develop a range of core technologies derived from the semiconductor industry.
They have obtained over 170 patents to protect their innovations.
The investors
Jolt Capital is an independent private equity firm specialised in growth investing in advanced technology companies. It has a mission to build future European leaders with a global focus.
Since 2011, Jolt Capital has invested in European B2B companies with revenues between €10M and €50M.
Its proprietary AI platform, Jolt.Ninja enables enriched sourcing, accelerated due diligence and automatic detection of investment or acquisition targets.
“MICROOLED is the archetypal growth deeptech company that we are looking for at Jolt. Patented core technologies in the field of semicon, a genuine potential to build manufacturing capacity in Europe, a series of fast-growing B2B markets, and powerful but energy-frugal products. We are delighted to have them join our portfolio and are looking forward to helping them scale to global leadership in light AR,” says Pierre Garnier, Managing Partner at Jolt Capital.
“We are delighted to become a shareholder of MICROOLED, to help them reach another level in terms of technology development, sales, and industrial capacity. MICROOLED is a key global supplier of the near-eye microdisplays market, for both military and civilian applications. It perfectly matches the strategy of the Defense Innovation Fund, aiming at
supporting the growth of tomorrow’s deeptech champions,” adds Nicolas Berdou, investment director at Bpifrance.
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/frances-microoled-bags-21m/
