Vitrealab Closes $11 Million Series A to Accelerate Development of Quantum Light Chip for AR Displays
Vienna, Austria – January 6th, 2026 Vitrealab GmbH, a developer of Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for laser–LCoS-based AR light engines, announced today the successful closing of a Series A financing. With a volume of US$ 11 million, the round was significantly oversubscribed. The strong investor interest was driven by an industry-wide inflection in Augmented Reality and Vitrealab’s technology’s strong fit with the performance, efficiency and form-factor demands of next generation AR devices. The investment was led by LIFTT Italian Venture Capital and LIFTT EuroInvest with participation from Constructor Capital, aws Gründungsfonds, Gateway Ventures, PhotonVentures, xista Science Ventures, Moveon Technologies and Hermann Hauser Investment.
The funding will be used to accelerate the development and industrialization of Vitrealab’s Quantum Light Chip (QLC). Vitrealab plans to strengthen collaborations with customers and partners, demonstrate next-generation light-engine architectures, and continue building the technical foundation required to bring AR displays into everyday use.
Vitrealab’s core technology leverages photonic integrated circuits to precisely guide and shape coherent laser light for laser–LCoS light engines. The company’s approach significantly reduces system complexity, optical losses, and size, while preserving polarization and beam quality. This enables higher brightness, wider fields of view, and lower power consumption in form factors suitable for lightweight AR smart glasses.
“The successful closing of our Series A is a strong validation of our technology and our vision for scalable AR display systems,” said Dr. Jonas Zeuner, CTO of Vitrealab. “This funding allows us to move from advanced prototypes to industrial-grade solutions, while continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible with photonic integrated circuits in display applications.”
The investor group brings together deep expertise in photonics, semiconductors, hardware commercialization and photonics mass manufacturing. Their support will help Vitrealab strengthen its position as a key technology supplier within the AR ecosystem and accelerate partnerships across the optical value chain.
“Augmented Reality has reached a point where the market is ready but the hardware is not, and in particular the display,” said Marco Cravetto, Business Analyst at LIFTT. “Vitrealab addresses this challenge at its core with a proprietary laser-based technology that combines performance, industrial scalability and a strong European IP foundation.”
About Vitrealab GmbH
Vitrealab GmbH is a Vienna-based deeptech company developing photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for laser-based augmented reality (AR) display systems. Its proprietary Quantum Light Chip enables compact, high-brightness, and energy-efficient light engines, addressing key performance and scalability challenges in next-generation AR glasses. With dedicated in-house manufacturing equipment and proprietary direct laser writing technologies, the company designs and fabricates its own photonic devices, ensuring high precision, reproducibility, and fast development cycles. This vertically integrated approach allows Vitrealab to scale seamlessly from prototype to volume production, supporting both rapid customization and consistent performance. Vitrealab works with leading Tier-1 OEMs and technology partners to bring high-performance AR glasses to the mass market.
About LIFTT Italian Venture Capital
LIFTT is a “not only profit” investment holding that aims to offer an innovative and dynamic vision of Venture Capital applied to Transfer Technology. LIFTT promotes an ethical business model inspired by ESG and boasts over 200 private and institutional investors, including Azimut, the LINKS Foundations, Compagnia di San Paolo and CRT. LIFTT has now raised €110.1 million and has a portfolio of 56 startups and innovative SMEs, starting from a pipeline of +4,500 companies operating in all market sectors with a focus on deeptech.
About LIFTT EuroInvest
In 2024 the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Italian venture capital firm LIFTT joined forces in a €100 million investment vehicle to spur equity investments in highly innovative European companies, active in key sectors such as life sciences, cybersecurity, deeptech and cleantech.
About Constructor Capital Constructor
Capital is a Swiss-based early-stage capital firm investing in Deep Tech, Software Tech, and Ed Tech. It bridges frontier research and scalable venture capital, backing founders who turn scientific breakthroughs and advanced software ideas into global businesses. They are the venture engine inside of Constructor Group, a global ecosystem across research, universities and applied technology, backing founders to help them go from Lab to Market faster and with higher conviction.
About aws Gründungsfonds
The aws Gründungsfonds is an Austrian venture capital fund with a fund volume of around EUR 70 million. As an investor, they support startups from the initial growth phase through subsequent financing rounds (Series A/B) to exit. The aws Gründungsfonds sees itself as a long-term, stable partner with a hands-on approach that actively supports the founding teams as a sparring partner. Since 2013, together with the predecessor fund and in cooperation with national and international co-investors, more than EUR 500 million has been invested in over 45 investments and numerous exits have been successfully realized.
About Gateway Ventures
Gateway Ventures is an Austria‑based venture capital and startup investment platform dedicated to making early‑stage investing accessible, transparent, and efficient for both founders and investors. The firm connects a large network of qualified business angels and co‑investors with high‑growth European startups, focusing on sectors such as digital economy, health, sustainability, and tech‑enabled innovation. Gateway Ventures has facilitated dozens of successful startup investments and actively fosters long‑term partnerships across the European startup ecosystem.
About Photonventures
PhotonVentures is a deep tech venture capital firm with a dedicated focus on the key enabling technology of integrated photonics. With strong in-house expertise, the team has a deep understanding of the industry’s success factors and value inflection points. This unique position enables PhotonVentures to invest capital, time, and network into Europe’s most promising integrated photonics companies, accelerating their growth and supporting their journey from innovation to impact.
About xista Science Ventures
Xista science ventures is an Austria-based venture fund investing in early-stage life science and deeptech startups across Europe. With a deep understanding of both scientific and investor perspectives, xista is an active partner to its portfolio companies, providing support for founders in realizing deep-tech ideas and scaling enterprises. The fund's diverse portfolio spans the full breadth of science, in fields such as biotechnology, medtech, materials science and software. xista is embedded in the innovation system around the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA).
About Moveon Technologies
Moveon Technologies Pte Ltd, founded in 2006, specializes in the design, engineering and production of precision micro-optics components & modules. Moveon’s capabilities in optics are complemented by proprietary know-how in micro & nano-fabrication — including nanoimprint, lithography and 2-Photon Polymerization processes that serve a wide variety of fields such as functional optics for LiDAR, depth sensing cameras, waveguide displays, spectrometers, eye trackers for AR/MR applications and medical optics.
About Hermann Hauser Investment
The Hermann Hauser Investment GmbH bundles the business angel activities of Hermann Hauser in Central Europe. He is co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners and has been investing in scaling deep technology companies for over 30 years. Hermann's successes at Amadeus include CSR, Entropic Research Laboratory, Solexa and Icera. He is also Vice-Chair of the EIC Pilot Advisory Board. In 2012 he was elected to be a member of the Royal Society and in 2015 he was awarded a KBE.