Varjo

Varjo Technologies Oy, commonly referred to as Varjo, is a Finnish manufacturer of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality headsets. The company was founded in 2016 by former Nokia and Microsoft executives.[1][2] Varjo specializes in developing high-resolution devices that offer clarity comparable to the human eye.[3][4][5]

Varjo Technologies Oy
TypePrivate – Oy
Founded2016 (2016)
Headquarters
Helsinki
,
Finland
Area served
Worldwide
Websitevarjo.com

The company's first head-mounted display, Varjo VR-1, was launched in February 2019, and it was followed by Varjo VR-2 and VR-2 Pro models in October 2019.[6][7] Varjo's first mixed reality device, Varjo XR-1 Developer Edition, was released to market in December 2019.[8] The third-generation products, Varjo XR-3 and VR-3, were launched in December 2020.[9][10] The fourth-generation consumer product Varjo Aero, was released to market in 2021.[11]

Varjo has raised over $100 million in venture capital funding to date.[12]

History

Varjo was founded by four people in 2016 at Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland

Founders

Niko Eiden, a co-founder and Board Member at Varjo. Also, a CEO of Pixieray, Computers and Electronics Manufacturing company that specializes in optics. He studied at Helsinki University of Technology.

Klaus Melakari, co-founder and CTO. He has 20 years of experience in R&D, system design and technology. Previously Head of Computational Vision Systems at Microsoft Mobile, Distinguished architect at Nokia. Klaus holds a M.Sc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at University of Oulu.

Roope Rainisto, co-founder and Chief Design Officer. He has 15 years of experience in concepting and UX design. He is the Previous principal designer at Microsoft and Nokia, Head of computational vision UX at Microsoft Mobile. He is also an Inventor in 40+ patents. He has a M.Sc. in Technology, Information networks.

Urho Konttori, founder of Varjo. He is a product innovator and program manager who has over 15 years of experience in designing, engineering and managing large-scale hardware and software projects at Microsoft and Nokia. He has been responsible for scouting, evaluating and defining high consumer value innovations such as novel cameras, see-through touch-screen fingerprint and VR headset technologies in more than a dozen mobile products, resulting in over 10 patents. He has also led the development of multiple operating systems, including the Linux-based Nokia N9 and N900 OS. Urho holds a B.Sc. degree in Algorithms.

Funding

Varjo has raised a total of $162.5M in funding over 9 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Sep 6, 2022, from a Series D round. Those who invested in Varjo are Foxconn, EQT Ventures, Volvo, Atomico, Mirabaud, Tesi, Lifeline Ventures, European Bank, Nordic Fund, etc. Varjo's customers include industry leaders such as Aston Martin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Audi, Volvo Cars, Siemens.

References
  1. Ray, Tiernan (12 August 2019). "Varjo's technology is like a magic leap forward in augmented reality". ZDNet. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  2. Scott, Stein (19 February 2019). "The best VR display I've ever seen costs only $6,000". CNET. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. Turk, Victoria (18 June 2018). "This virtual reality headset runs at human-eye resolution". Wired UK. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  4. Sawers, Paul (12 August 2020). "Varjo raises $54 million to bring VR with 'human eye' resolution to more industries". VentureBeat. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  5. Metz, Rachel (June 19, 2017). "This Startup Is Making Virtual and Augmented Reality So Crisp It Looks Real". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  6. Takahashi, Dean (15 October 2019). "Varjo unveils high-resolution enterprise VR headsets". VentureBeat. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  7. Lang, Ben (15 October 2019). "Varjo Launches VR-2 Headset with SteamVR Support, Improved 'Bionic Display', and Hand-tracking Option". Road to VR. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  8. Stein, Scott (16 December 2019). "Varjo's VR headset could finally be ready to replace TVs and monitors". CNET. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  9. Robertson, Adi (1 December 2020). "Varjo's dual-resolution VR and AR headsets just got crisper and cheaper". The Verge. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  10. Takahashi, Dean (1 December 2020). "Varjo launches new generation of human-eye resolution VR headsets". VentureBeat. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  11. Carbotte, Kevin (21 October 2021). "Varjo Aero Review: What the Future Looks Like". Tom’s Hardware.
  12. Billing, Mimi (12 August 2020). "Going against the current – VR company Varjo raises $54m". Sifted. Retrieved 4 March 2021.


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