Finnish VR company Varjo raises $8.2 million from EQT and others

Helsinki AR/VR startup Varjo has raised $8.2 million in Series A funding led by EQT Ventures with participation from several European investors.

Other investors in the round include Lifeline Ventures , The Venture Reality Fund, Foobar Technologies, Presence Capital, Sisu Game Ventures, Bragiel Brothers, and John Lindfors, managing partner of DST Global.

Varjo makes hardware and software solutions for VR, AR, and mixed reality. It launched its first product in June of this year using its patented bionic display solution, which it says achieves human eye resolution for greater detail.

Ted Persson, investment advisor at EQT Ventures, said the firm encountered the company’s human-eye resolution technology and “realised how flawed many of today’s VR and AR platforms are”.

“Suddenly, we could see every single detail and even read the text,” he added. “The team realised that this had the potential to be really transformative. Varjo’s enterprise strategy really stands out. While the mass consumer adoption of VR is taking a bit longer than anticipated, Varjo is serving the professional markets, where there’s huge demand already now.”

The company is now moving from the research phase into the development phase, explained CEO Urho Konttori. “With EQT Ventures, we not only have a VC, but a true partner in growth,” he said.