# Swave Photonics

> Swave Photonics is a Belgium-based fabless semiconductor company building the world's first true holographic display chip. Spun out of imec and Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2022, Swave's Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) platform uses a CMOS spatial light modulator with sub-300nm 'Diffraction Pixels' to sculpt light into natural 3D images - aiming to replace the waveguides and varifocal lenses in AR glasses, heads-up displays and glasses-free 3D walls with a single scalable chip.

- **Founded:** 2022
- **Headquarters:** Leuven, Belgium (with US operations in the Bay Area / Pacific Northwest)
- **Founders:** Theodore Marescaux (Co-founder & Chief Product Officer), Dmitri Choutov (Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer)
- **Team size:** ~46 employees
- **Products:** HXR (Holographic eXtended Reality) Platform, DynamicDepth, Holo AR / Holo HUD / Holo Wall, Product Development Kits
- **Notable:** CES 2026 Innovation Award honoree in XR & Spatial Computing for the HXR Spatial Light Modulator, CES 2025 Innovation Award for the HXR platform, Demonstrated a dynamic holographic modulator with 256 million pixels and sub-300nm pixel pitch - described as the world's smallest pixel

## Products & services

- **HXR (Holographic eXtended Reality) Platform** — A CMOS-based spatial light modulator using sub-300nm 'Diffraction Pixels' and phase-change materials to steer light and render true, high-resolution 3D holograms without waveguides or varifocal lenses.
- **DynamicDepth** — Proprietary technology enabling natural 3D visualization with true, continuous depth so the eye focuses naturally and avoids the vergence-accommodation conflict that causes AR discomfort.
- **Holo AR / Holo HUD / Holo Wall** — Target application configurations: full holographic AR in compact smartglasses, distraction-free holographic automotive heads-up displays, and glasses-free 3D video walls.
- **Product Development Kits** — Early sampling hardware for customers evaluating the HXR spatial light modulator, shipping to first partners following the Series A.

## Achievements

- CES 2026 Innovation Award honoree in XR & Spatial Computing for the HXR Spatial Light Modulator
- CES 2025 Innovation Award for the HXR platform
- Demonstrated a dynamic holographic modulator with 256 million pixels and sub-300nm pixel pitch - described as the world's smallest pixel
- Raised roughly $69M total across seed and Series A rounds
- Attracted strategic investment from Samsung Ventures and Murata
- Spun out of imec and VUB and reached silicon at partner fabs within ~3 years

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Named a CES 2026 Innovation Award honoree in the XR & Spatial Computing category for the HXR Spatial Light Modulator.
- **2025-06** — Raised an additional €6M ($6.9M) Series A follow-on from IAG Capital Partners and Samsung Ventures.
- **2025-01** — Closed a €27M ($28.27M) Series A co-led by imec.xpand and SFPIM Relaunch and demonstrated its dynamic holographic modulator at CES 2025.
- **2024-04** — Publicly unveiled its plan to build the world's first true holographic display technology for reality-first spatial computing.

## Links

- Website: https://swave.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/swave-photonics
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/swaveio
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHRNzjGJfrQ

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/swave-photonics
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-10