Finland-based headset maker Varjo has announced it has raised a $31 million Series B investment to continue the development of its novel ‘Bionic Display’ headset which incorporates a high-density display with a wide field of view display as a shortcut toward a ‘retina resolution’ VR headset.
Varjo’s Series B investment was lead by London-based investment firm Atomico, with participation from Next47, EQT Ventures, and Lifeline Ventures. The company says the money will be used to scale the company’s workforce from 80 to 200 people over the next year, and to fund the launch of the first Varjo headset which is due out in “late Q4.” The company says the Series B round brings their total investment capital to $46 million.
With an expected price between $5,000 and $10,000 per device, Varjo is exclusively targeting enterprise customers with its initial headset. The company says they’re working with Airbus, Audi, Lilium, Saab, Sellen, Volkswagen and Volvo Cars to adapt the headset to enterprise needs, with many companies seeking cheaper and more efficient virtual design and production processes aided by VR equipment.
“Decisions are the daily challenge in a product development process. Supporting virtual development means to deliver the highest available quality to enable reliable decisions. Varjo’s technology is convincing and will help us to close the existing gaps and speed up our development cycles using the advantages of a continuous virtual process,” said Jan Pflueger from the Coordination Augmented and Virtual Reality Center Of Competence at Audi in the press announcement of Varjo’s Series B investment.
Varjo has impressed us with its ‘Bionic Display’ headset, which aims to deliver a VR headset with retina resolution—resolution high enough that individual pixels aren’t discernable by the human eye. The company’s approach involves using a large low-density display in conjunction with a small high-density display, offering a view with a central region of retina resolution fidelity without sacrificing the immersion that comes from a wide field of view.