Snap (NYSE: SNAP) acquired WaveOptics, an Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK-based AR startup that makes projectors used in AR glasses.
The amount of the deal reportedly was over $500m in cash-and-stock.
The acquisition has enabled Snap to get the technology to build and launch Spectacles, its pair of display glasses designed for creators to overlay their Lenses directly onto the world.
Spectacles are fully integrated with Lens Studio, Snap’s desktop application designed for augmented reality creators and developers to build and distribute Lenses across Snap’s AR platform. Through Lens Studio, creators can wirelessly push their Lenses to Spectacles directly for rapid testing and iteration, allowing creators to build and interact with their Lenses in real time.
Led by David Hayes, CEO, WaveOptics is a designer and manufacturer of diffractive waveguides, which is the key optical component in wearable Augmented Reality (AR) devices.
FinSMEs
22/05/2021