OQmented in Sharp focus with $ 20 million in its Series A funding round

Germany’s OQmented has raised $ 20 million in its Series A fundraising round throwing more light on its laser beam scanning technology for augmented or mixed reality glasses.

Technology giant Sharp joined the round as a strategic investor through Sharp Devices Europe GmbH, other investors included Salvia and Vsquared Ventures.

“We look forward to accelerating our cooperation with OQmented and to realising the developing market of all-day wearable augmented and mixed reality glasses, along with the many differentiated markets that will eventually benefit from the key technologies and innovations driven by OQmented,” says David Woodward, President of Sharp Devices Europe GmbH.

“Thomas and Ulrich are leading a fast moving start-up company with a growing team of highly motivated dynamic staff, demonstrating leading edge innovation. We are very excited to utilise the many synergies available between OQmented and Sharp’s own technologies and device industrialisation,” says Woodward.

OQmented was founded in 2018 by Thomas von Wantoch and Dr. Ulrich Hofmann and builds MEMS1-based AR/MR display and 3D sensing solutions. It claims its solution has lower power consumption, is smaller in size, has higher brightness and contrast, and a display performance which makes the solution suitable for ‘outdoor’ wear glass. It will present its ‘light engines’ as a plug and play solution. 

“Big tech companies and other players are racing to accomplish consumer AR glasses that are ultimately able to replace the smartphone. There is overwhelming demand for our product and we will use the Series A funds to accelerate getting our light engines ready for the market,” says Thomas von Wantoch, co-CEO and co-founder of OQmented.

“We are excited that we gained Sharp as strategic investor with years of experience as one of the largest suppliers for displays and electronic devices. Our unique cooperation bundles enormous know-how and enables us to offer an unmatched one-stop shop solution to our customers: a light engine with integrated MEMS, electronics and laser. This strengthens our position as key enabler for the augmented and mixed reality market,” he says.