Sunnyvale, California-based DigiLens has raised a fresh round of funding from Samsung Electronics, valuing the augmented reality startup at over $500 million.

The company’s premier product is a holographic waveguide display featuring a thin-film, laser-etched photopolymer embedded with microscopic holograms of mirror-like optics. The device works through a micro-display projected into one end of the lens, turning the light wave using the optics and guiding it through the surface before another set of optics turns it back toward the eye.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Diamond Edge Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, Alsop Louie Partners, 37 Interactive Entertainment, UDC Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Universal Display Corporation, Dolby Family Ventures, and a few other investors have participated in the round along with Samsung Electronics.

“Today’s announcement helps establish DigiLens as the front-runner in the race to develop the core optical technologies that are essential to deploying smart glass augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR) devices at scale,” said DigiLens CEO Chris Pickett.

“The waveguide display optics are the most difficult and important step in developing head-worn hardware. We’re excited to be working with Samsung Electronics during this next critical step of the category creation process. Samsung’s innovative nature and proven track record of manufacturing mobile devices at a global scale will unlock value for the whole industry,” he added.

“At Samsung, we develop and innovate technologies that provide unmatched value for our global customers and enable experiences that go beyond what they expect. We are very pleased to invest in and collaborate with DigiLens to prepare differentiated and competitive AR devices,” said Hark Sang Kim, Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics.

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