Vienna’s Vitrealab closes €9.4 million Series A to develop light engines for AR glasses

Vienna-based Vitrealab, a developer of Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for laser-based augmented reality (AR) display systems, has closed a €9.4 million ($11 million) Series A financing round to accelerate the development of its Quantum Light Chip (QLC) for AR displays. 

The “significantly oversubscribed” round was led by LIFTT Italian Venture Capital and LIFTT EuroInvest with participation from Constructor Capital, aws Gründungsfonds, Gateway Ventures, PhotonVentures, xista Science Ventures, Moveon Technologies, and Hermann Hauser Investment.

“The successful closing of our Series A is a strong validation of our technology and our vision for scalable AR display systems. This funding allows us to move from advanced prototypes to industrial-grade solutions, while continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible with photonic integrated circuits in display applications,” said Dr Jonas Zeuner, CTO and co-founder of Vitrealab. 

Founded in 2018 by Chiara Greganti and Dr Zeuner, Vitrealab is a deeptech company with the mission to disrupt the display industry with a new kind of laser waveguide technology. It’s a spin-off from the Quantum Group at the University of Vienna, with one of its founding members being Anton Zeilinger, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2022.

The company develops PICs for laser–liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS)-based AR light engines. Its proprietary Quantum Light Chip enables compact, high-brightness, and energy-efficient light engines, addressing performance and scalability challenges in next-generation AR glasses. 

Vitrealab claims to follow a vertically integrated approach that supports scaling from prototype to volume production in a seamless manner. This is made possible by its in-house manufacturing equipment and proprietary direct laser writing technologies, which enable it to design and fabricate its own photonic devices. 

Its core technology leverages photonic integrated circuits to guide and shape coherent laser light for laser–LCoS light engines. According to the company, this approach significantly reduces system complexity, optical losses, and size, while preserving polarisation and beam quality. This enables higher brightness, wider fields of view, and lower power consumption in form factors suitable for lightweight AR smart glasses.

This fresh capital will be used to accelerate the development and industrialisation of Vitrealab’s QLC. It also aims to strengthen collaborations with customers and partners, demonstrate next-generation light-engine architectures, and continue developing the technical capabilities required to support the everyday adoption of AR displays. 

Back in 2021, VitreaLab closed a seven-digit Seed round led by APEX Ventures to scale its solutions in the display market.

It works with leading Tier-1 OEMs and technology partners to bring high-performance AR glasses to the mass market.

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