The Chinese smart glasses maker founded by an Apple veteran has become a unicorn after a funding round with investors including Meituan and Tencent.
Even Realities Technology raised $150 million in a pre-Series B round, giving it a $1 billion valuation. Will Wang, the company’s founder and CEO, worked at Apple from 2016 to 2018 and was involved in the development and mass production of the Apple Watch and iPhone, but he is focusing on the AI wearables market, which is dominated by the Metaplatform.
The company announced Monday that it will use the funding to develop its next-generation smart glasses platform, deepen AI integration, expand its global operations and accelerate product innovation.
The Shenzhen-based startup joins a number of global peers, including Meta Platform, to build advanced gadgets and electronics that bring the benefits of AI to individual users. Alibaba launched Quark AI glasses in February.
Founded in 2023, Even Realities launched the Even G2 smart glasses late last year, which feature a large display in a lightweight frame, alongside the Even R1, a smart ring that controls the G2’s display. The company attributes its vision for Even G2 in part to Wang’s time at Apple.
Unlike Meta’s camera-equipped Ray-Ban product line, Even Realities’ flagship G2 glasses don’t have a camera or recording hardware, but, as the startup values user privacy, send messages, navigation, and live translation through a heads-up display embedded in the lenses.
“The future is not going to be like pulling out a device every time you need information,” Wang said. “It’s about having the right information available to you exactly when you need it, while remaining fully present in the world around you.”
More than half of Even Realities’ user base is located in the United States, as are about 80% of its developers, the company said.
The global smart glasses category grew 167% year-on-year in the first quarter, with 2.25 million units shipped worldwide, according to consulting firm IDC. Meta leads the way with nearly 70% market share, followed by augmented reality glasses maker Shenzhen RayNeo Technology and Chinese consumer electronics maker Xiaomi, according to IDC.
Growth was driven by mainstream adoption of display-less smart glasses, led by Meta’s Ray-Ban partnership, IDC said.
Global shipments of smart glasses, including display glasses and those with virtual reality capabilities, are expected to more than double to 50 million units by 2030.
Even Realities is primarily funded by Chinese-originated venture capital and private equity firms, including CDH Investment, Monolith Management, and CVC Capital. The company raised an undisclosed amount from Hong Kong-based Unicorn Capital Partners and Cianhill Capital in January.
Domestic rival Lokid is valued at $2.58 billion after its latest round of $522 million in March, according to PitchBook data. RayNeo, operated by TCL Electronics, is valued at $239.9 million, according to PitchBook.
—CNBC’s Serenitie Wang contributed to this report.
